


The Daughter That Was Left Behind

by laxit21, mewmew666



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, olicity au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2019-10-11 16:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 36
Words: 54,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17450222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laxit21/pseuds/laxit21, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mewmew666/pseuds/mewmew666
Summary: Before the Gambit, Oliver Queen met QC intern  Felicity Smoak. When he boarded the Gambit, he left something behind. Now, five long years later someone is waiting for him.





	1. Chapter 1

Felicity Smoak was half-listening to the news as she searched her house for her keys. She knew they had to be somewhere on her dining room table, but there was just too much stuff on the table to find them right away.

“Megan?” She called upstairs, “are you ready? We’re leaving as soon as I find my keys.”

“Do I have to go?”

“Yes, you have to go. It’s really important for you to-“

The report she was watching was pre-empted as breaking news was announced. “Oliver Queen is alive. The Starling City resident was found by fishermen in the North China Sea five days ago.  Five years after he was missing and presumed dead following the accident at sea which claimed the Queen’s Gambit.” The anchor read. “Queen was a regular tabloid presence and a fixture at the Starling City club scene. Shortly before his disappearance, he was acquitted of assault charges stemming from a highly publicized drunken altercation with paparazzi. Queen is the son of Starling City billionaire Robert Queen, who was also on board but now officially confirmed as deceased. We here at Channel 52 would-“

“Mommy?” Megan asked. She’d come downstairs to find her mother staring at the television. “What’s wrong? I thought we had to go.”

“Nothing’s wrong, baby. Let’s go.” They were heading out the door when Felicity’s phone rang. It was Moira.

* * *

 

**Starling City-2005**

Felicity was sitting in the cubicle she’d been assigned for her summer internship at Queen Consoliated. Today was only her second day of the internship, and she couldn’t wait to get started and gain valuable first-hand experience. That excitement lessened somewhat when she was told her first rotation was helping the IT technicians with work orders and help desk tickets. The woman she was supposed to shadow had gone upstairs, to a restricted area, and left Felicity in her cubicle bored out of her mind.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. “Anybody down here?” A male voice called.

She nearly fell out of her chair. “What- I- yes, how can I help you?” she said standing up and walking over to the doorway.

“I’m Oliver Queen, I-“

“I know who you are. You’re Mr. Queen.”

“No, that’s my dad.”

“Yeah, but he has a job, I mean he’s at work. Upstairs. So he couldn’t come down to the IT department and listen to an intern babble, which will end in 3.2.1. What do you need?” she said.

“I- um- I was having some trouble with my laptop. Dad said someone in IT should be able to fix it.” he said gesturing to the computer in his hands. “I don’t suppose-“

“Come to mama.” The blonde said as she took it from him.  She started typing something into a control window. “What’s the issue?”

“It’s running slowly. Keeps freezing. Don’t know why, since it cost me a few grand.” He said in an annoyed tone.

“You’ve got a lot of viruses.” She blurted out. Then, corrected herself. “I mean, you don’t, as far as I know, its just- there’s a lot of viruses and malware on this device. From some of the….things you’ve looked at and sites you’ve visited. I’m deleting the viruses and installing some antivirus software.”

“Anyway I can stop it from happening again?”

“Well, um, visit some less…..obscure sites, I suppose.” She answered. “Here you go.”

He nodded, slightly ashamed and took the laptop. “Thank you, Ms.-“

“Smoak. Felicity Smoak.” She said. “Have a good one.”

An hour later, someone came into the room and demanded to know who had spoken with Oliver earlier that day. Felicity admitted to it and was taken to aside by the head of IT. The man wasn’t happy an intern had assisted the CEO’s son rather than call a ‘more qualified person’ in his words and to never do it again. His tirade was interrupted by Robert and Oliver coming down to the IT department to thank Felicity personally for her help. The head of IT changed his tune then.

That day wasn’t the last time she saw Oliver Queen before his tragic accident.

* * *

 

**Present**

It took Felicity all of her self-control to wait until Megan was already at preschool before calling Moira. After what felt like an hour, Megan had been dropped off and Felicity was able to talk to Moira.

“Have you seen the news?”

“Yeah, I did. Is it- Is he-?”

“Yes, its true. I went to see him last night. I didn’t want to call you that late. I’m on the way to the hospital to pick him up now.”

“What did- how did he react? To finding out about Megan.”

“I haven’t told him.” she admitted. “I didn’t want to overwhelm him.”

“When are you going to tell him?”

“In a few days. I want him to settle in some before I break the news to him. Have you told Megan?”

“No, she wasn’t in the room when the story broke. But she’s a smart kid, and she knows Oliver is her father. It’s only a matter of time before she figures it out.” Felicity said.

A little while later, across town, Oliver was only half-listening to his mother as they walked into the Queen Mansion. He didn’t pay any attention to what his mother or Walter said, and went over to greet Raisa.

“Good to see you, Mr. Oliver.” she greeted him before turning to Moira and Walter. “Mr. Merlyn called. He wants to join you for dinner. Should I set a place for Ms. Sm-“

“No, they won’t be joining us.” Moira answered. After talking with Felicity, the blonde agreed to give Moira a few days to break the news of Megan’s existence to him.

Oliver gave her a confused look after she turned away. Then, he heard footsteps from upstairs and Thea came running down. After hugging him and saying she knew he was alive, she started to ask something else, but Moira cut her off. Clearly, there was something going on they didn’t want to tell him.

At dinner, Tommy started catching Oliver up on what he missed. Who won the five Super Bowls he missed, the ending of LOST, Barack Obama’s election. After he ran through all of that information, he turned to a different topic.

“I’m kinda surprised I’m the only guest you’ve got over.” Tommy remarked. “I guess she might’ve wanted to give you time. Knowing her, the news was a bit of a bombshell and-“

“What are you talking about?”

“Tommy, there hasn’t been a good time to tell Oliver-“ Moira started to say.

“Oh, that’s why you stopped me earlier.” Thea said in realization.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Oliver said.

“It’s nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow.” Dinner was tense after that.

The next day, Oliver went to Queen Consolidated with his mother and step-father. He and Tommy were going to see the city in the afternoon and Oliver had convinced his family going to QC would be a good thing. It was familiar to Oliver. In the middle of his tour of R&D, someone dropped something, and it landed with a bang. Oliver jumped and started having a flashback. When he came back to the present, everyone in the room was staring at him so he excused himself to gather his thoughts. He soon found himself wandering the halls of the second floor.

Oliver was clearing his head, and running through his plans to honor his father when something ran into him. A quiet and high-pitched voice saying ‘sorry’ registered in his brain a few moments later. He looked down to see a little girl was brown pigtails and blue-green eyes looking up at him. They were very familiar eyes.

“Are you supposed to be out here?” The girl just stared at him. “C’mon, I’ll take you back to the daycare. I’m sure they’re looking for you.”

“No! Daycare is for babies. I’m not a baby. I’m looking for my mommy.”

“The nice people at the child care center can help you.” he tried to reason.

“No, they’re mean and stupid and they say mean things about me and my mommy when they think I can’t hear.” She said crossing her arms.

Megan liked preschool. Her teacher was nice and she had lots of friends. She didn’t like daycare. She only had to go on days preschool was closed but she still hated it. The staff always treated her like she was a baby, not letting her read like she wanted to. Two of the staff made comments about her mom every time she got dropped off. Megan didn’t understand what the comments meant, but she knew they weren’t nice.

Oliver was about to respond when the click-clack of heels could be heard coming down the hallway. They sped up as the woman wearing them turned the corner and saw Oliver.

“What do you think you’re doing?” A blonde woman asked.

“Look, I-“

“Not you, her. Megan, you can’t just run away from the daycare like that. I didn’t know where you were, I was so worried. You can’t scare me like that.” she said as she hugged the little girl. Something about this woman seemed familiar to Oliver, but he couldn’t quite place it. “I need to have a talk with the daycare staff. They don’t pay enough attention if a four year-old can beat their security measures. Was anyone even watching you or did you just walk out the door with no one noticing for half an hour? I’m gonna fracking-“

“Felicity Smoak?” He asked. Her babbling had jogged his memory.

“Oliver?” she said as she turned towards him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver reunites with a face from his past and meets someone he never expected to.

“Felicity Smoak?” He asked. Her babbling had jogged his memory.

“Oliver?” she said as she turned towards him. Once she got a good look at him, she recognized him instantly. There was something different, harder, about him now. His hair was different. She thought he looked better with short hair.

“You did use to call it ‘serial killer hair’ for some reason.” He said.

“Frack, I said that out loud.” She said mortified. “I take it your mom told you about Megan. I wish she’d given me a heads up. I know you’re her father and you’ve got a right to meet her but-”

“My mom didn’t tell me anything. I was- I needed some air and I ran into Megan here. Is she-?”

“Yes, she is.” Felicity said cutting him off. Before she could say anything else, Megan started tugging on her skirt.

“What are you two talking about?”

“Megan, do you remember what I told you when you asked about your dad?”

“You said before I was born he got lost along with grandpa and no one could find him.” the little girl answered.

“Well, a few days ago, someone found him.” Felicity knelt down next to her daughter and pointed at Oliver. “Megan, this is your dad. His name is Oliver. Say ‘hi’.”

“Hi, Megan.” Oliver said as the girl stared at him.

He wasn’t sure what to do as she studied him. Felicity stood back up just as Megan moved closer to Oliver. She stopped right in front of him and looked up. “Hi. Where were you?”

“Very far away. That’s why it took me so long to come home.” he explained. He was saved from having to explain anything else when Moira came down the hall from one side and a frantic-looking woman in her early 20s came from the other end.

“There you are Megan, I’ve been looking every- oh, hello Ms. Smoak.” The daycare worker said.

“Hello Ms. Smoak. That’s all you have to say? I left my daughter in your care, you lost her and it took you,” Felicity looked at her phone, “thirty-six minutes to find her, and all you have to say is ‘Hello Ms. Smoak’? Are you serious?”

“Now, Ms. Smoak, as you know Megan is-“ the woman began to defend.

“You lost my granddaughter?” Moira asked from behind Oliver.

“Mrs. Queen, I-“

“I think you, the other members of your staff and I need to discuss a few things later.” Moira said, effectively dismissing the woman. “Can I trust you to get Megan back to the center on your own?”

The woman nodded and went to take Megan’s hand, but the little girl refused to go. “No! I don’t like you. You’re mean! You called me and Mommy names!”

“Oh, she did, did she?” Felicity said. The other woman looked terrified. “C’mon honey. You can come with me.”

“What about Daddy?” Megan asked.

“You told him.” Moira said looking between Felicity and Oliver.

“He’s standing right here.” Oliver said. “And I figured it out for myself. She has my eyes, mom.”

Megan looked at Oliver in awe. “Grandma Moira is your mommy?”

“Yes, she is.” Felicity said. “Why don’t we let Grandma and Daddy talk for a little bit, okay?” she began to lead Megan away. “Come to my office when you’re ready.”

As soon as the hallway was clear, Oliver turned to his mother. “When were you gonna tell me? Were you gonna tell me?”

“Of course I was. I just- I didn’t wanna overwhelm you.” Moira said. “You were gone for five years. There’s a lot you need to adjust to. I didn’t want to expose you to too much too fast.”

“When were you gonna tell me?”

“In a few days. After the media circus calmed down somewhat.” Moira said.

“I- I’ll talk to you at home.” Oliver said walking away. He stopped before turning back to his mother. “Is IT still on the 18th floor?”

“Yes, she’s in 1803.” Moira answered. She suspected Oliver wouldn’t have taken the news well to begin with, but not like this.

Oliver arrived at Felicity’s office and knocked on the door. “Hey, I was hoping-“

“Yeah, we probably should talk.” Felicity said. she then turned to Megan. “Honey, why don’t you use some crayons and paper and made something for Daddy?”

“What if he doesn’t like it?” Megan whispered to her mom. Now that she had a dad, the little girl was worried about doing something to make him leave again. she didn’t want him to leave. Oliver looked horror struck at how worried she was.

“He’ll like whatever you make, baby.” She reassured her. Turning back to Oliver, she spoke again. “How do you wanna go forward?”

“I don’t under-“

“I’m asking what you’re gonna do now, knowing Megan’s your daughter. Do you want to get to know her? Are you gonna help raise her? I need to know.”

“I wanna- she’s my child. I want to know her, I wanna see her grow up. I’m in, for all of it.” He said. “I missed so much already.”

“Good.”

“Who else-?” Oliver wanted to know who else knew about Megan.

“Everyone in the city suspects. Originally, I just told your mother, which Thea overheard. Then, the press were curios why Thea’s new friend after- after you went away was me. When I began to show, they put it together.” she answered. “My mom, your family, Tommy and Laurel are the only ones who I’ve actually told the truth to.”

“That’s what he tried to ask me last night.” Oliver said. “At dinner, he seemed confused someone else wasn’t there. I’m guessing it was you two.”

“Yeah, it was.” She said. The room fell into silence and the only nose was Megan coloring.

“What’s she like?”

“Smart. Fascinated by everything. Compassionate. Stubborn, which she gets from you.”

“So, mostly like you, with some Queen stubbornness thrown in.” Oliver joked.

“I don’t think that’s all me. You’re smart, or you were back when we met, you just didn’t care enough to try. And you’re compassionate. You did plenty of stupid stuff, but none of it was mean-spirited.” She told him.

“Hey, your mom said you were down here.” Tommy said as he walked into the room. “Also said the secret was out.”

“Uncle Tommy!” Megan yelled as soon as she noticed him come into the room. Her drawing for Oliver lay forgotten.

“Hey, kiddo.” Tommy said. “Why aren’t you at daycare?”

“Don’t.” Felicity and Oliver both said.

“I hate it. Everyone there’s stupid.” She answered.

“Well, since Megan isn’t at daycare, and you’re busy, why don’t Oliver and I take her for the day?”

“Remember what happened the last time you watched her?” Felicity asked.

“She doesn’t have any glitter, so it won’t happen again.” He said.

“I don’t know if Oliver’s up for it.” she said. He had turned a little pale at the suggestion.

“He’s nervous because he’s new at this, it’ll pass.”

“Can I, Mommy? I wanna go with Daddy and Uncle Tommy.” Megan asked.

“Ok, but I want you to be on your best behavior. No running off. Hold their hands when you cross the street. And no tantrums. Can you do that?” Felicity asked. The little girl nodded enthusiastically. “Ok, go have fun.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Tommy run into some old faces, and some trouble, while watching Megan for the day.

“Uncle Tommy?” Oliver asked Tommy as the other man got Megan settled into her car seat.

“We- sometimes I think Megan’s the only reason any of us got through that first year. She was the last piece of you we had and it gave your family something to focus on. Somewhere along the way, we became friends and when Megan was born, I wanted to make sure she knew about her father. So, that’s why I’m Uncle Tommy.”

“Thanks for being there when I couldn’t be.”

“Where are we going?” Megan asked, reminding them she was there.

“I don’t know, that’s up to your dad.”

“I need to see Laurel.” Oliver said quietly.

“Everyone’s happy you’re alive and you wanna see the one person that isn’t?”

“I need to- there are things I need to say to her. Things she deserves to hear from me.” Oliver insisted. “I have to at least try.”

“If you insist.” Tommy said as he drove towards CNRI.

They parked and Oliver let Megan out of her car seat. She was bouncing up and down in excitement but he didn’t know why. She tried to take off but Oliver was able to catch her in time. “Remember what you promised your mom? You said you wouldn’t run off.”

“Sorry. I got excited.” She said looking up at him. “Are you gonna tell her?”

“We’ll see. I want you to stay where I can see you, okay?” he said and she nodded. She reached up to take his hand so they wouldn’t be separated and they walked into the building. As soon as they got inside, however, Megan broke free again and ran off.

Tommy chuckled at the look of shock on Oliver’s face as they followed the five-year-old through the office. When he heard the laughter, he shot his friend a look. “What? Kids don’t always listen. You shouldn’t be surprised.”

After they entered the office, Megan took off to find Laurel. She didn’t know why they came here, but she was happy because she had something to show her.

“Megan? What are you doing here?” the attorney said as soon as she saw the girl. “Where’s your mom?”

“At work. Come here, I wanna show you something.” She insisted as she grabbed Laurel’s hand and tried to pull her away.

“Give me just a minute.” Laurel told her coworkers as she let herself get pulled away. “What is it?”

“I wanna show you my daddy. I met him today.” She said excitedly. Laurel stopped in her tracks. She wasn’t quite ready to see Oliver yet.

“I’m not sure-“

“Megan, we talked about not running off and- Laurel?”

“Hello Oliver.”

“You know my daddy?” Megan piped up.

“Yes, Laurel was my friend for a very long time before I went away.” He answered before turning to Laurel. “I was hoping I could talk to you.”

“Megan, why don’t we give Laurel and your dad some space to talk, okay?” Tommy suggested ushering the little girl away from them.

“I don’t have anything to say to you, and I don’t wanna hear whatever you wanna say to me.” Laurel said stiffly. “Why are you here, Ollie?”

“To apologize. It was my fault. I wanted to ask you not to blame her.”

“For what? Falling under your spell? How could I blame her for doing the same thing I did?”

“I never meant-“

“She was my sister. I couldn’t be angry because she was dead. I couldn’t grieve because I was so angry. That’s what happens when your sister dies while screwing your boyfriend.” Laurel’s voice got quiet. “We buried an empty coffin because her body was at the bottom of the ocean where you left her. It should’ve been you.”

“I know its too late to say this but I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too. I hoped you’d rot in hell a whole lot longer than five years.” She said before walking away.

The trio left the building in silence and were walking towards the car when Megan spoke up. “Why was Laurel so sad when you talked to her?”

“Before I went away, I did something that wasn’t very nice and it hurt her feelings.”

“Did you say sorry? Mommy said if you hurt someone’s feelings, you’re supposed to say sorry.”

“I did, but I don’t think she’s ready to forgive me just yet.”

“Ok, now that we’ve done that, how about- what the hell?”

In the middle of Tommy’s sentence, a van with blacked out windows drove up behind them and men wearing masks stepped out from behind a dumpster. They shot Oliver and Tommy with tranquilizers and the last thing Oliver heard before passing out was Megan screaming.

He came to tied to a chair. Tommy was unconscious on a pallet in front of him. One of the masked men stood in front of him with a tazer.

“Where’s my daughter?”

The man tazed him. “I ask the questions, you give me answers. Did your father survive the accident? Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything?”

“Yeah, he told me I’m gonna kill you.”

“You’re delusional. You’re zipcuffed to that chair.”

Oliver held his arms up to demonstrate that he wasn’t cuffed to the chair and attacked while they were still processing. He took two of them down while the third ran away. Stopping to check on Tommy, and unable to find Megan, Oliver ran after the last man. He caught him, got the answer he needed and killed him. He found Megan in the van they’d been abducted in right as Tommy began to wake up. They had blindfolded Megan and tied her hands up so she couldn’t remove the blindfold. Tears were running down her face.

“Wha- what happened?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute. Megan, are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“No, they were just really mean.” She said, looking ready to cry. Oliver wished the men were still alive so he could kill them again. “I wanna go home, I want Mommy!”

“Ok, okay. We’re gonna go home and I’m gonna call Mommy. Everything’s gonna be alright.”

 

They wound up back at Queen mansion and explained what happened to the police. Oliver was barely paying attention to Lance since all he could hear was Megan sniffling and telling everyone who tried to comfort her that she wanted her mom.

“-probably figured you’d pay a king’s ransom to get your boy back, or a Queen’s ransom.”

“Get out.” Felicity said in an angry voice from the doorway.

“Mommy!” Megan said as she ran over to Felicity. Her mother picked her up and hugged her tightly, crying slightly in relief.

“Sorry, was I unclear?”

“Ms. Smoak, I-“

“I don’t care what you have to say, Detective. Those men didn’t just take Oliver and Tommy, they also kidnapped my four-year-old daughter and she could’ve gotten hurt or worse. And you think this is a good time to made snide remarks and insinuate things about Oliver? You have your statements, now get out.”

“This isn’t-“

“I think its best if you leave now.” Walter said. Over the last five years, he’d gotten to know Felicity very well and could tell that she was going to do something drastic if Lance didn’t leave. “If Oliver remembers anything, he’ll let you know.”  The two detectives left.

“Shh, baby. It’s okay. The mean men are gone and you’re okay. You’re safe.” Felicity told Megan who started crying again. She whispered the same thing over and over to the little girl, trying to calm her down.

“Felicity, I’m so sorry. If Megan hadn’t-”

“Not right now, Oliver.” She said. Megan seemed to be getting calmer “Do you want me to put you down now?” the little girl nodded.

“Did you say thank you?” Megan asked her father.

“Say thank you to who?”

“The man in the hood. The one who saved us. I didn’t seem him but I heard him fighting the bad men and help you and Uncle Tommy.” She explained. “When someone does something nice, you say thank you.”

“I wanted to but he left before I could.” Oliver said.

“I think someone might need a nap.” Felicity said as she watched Megan yawn.

“Naps are for babies. I don’t need a nap.” She said. “And I wanna finish my present for Daddy.”

“Ok, lets go upstairs so you can finish it.” Felicity and Oliver followed her upstairs to her playroom. While she was focused on drawing, Felicity turned to him. “Do you know why they took you?”

“I don’t-“

“Don’t lie to me, especially after what happened today.”

“They asked about my father and his death. The hood guy showed up before I could tell them I didn’t know anything.” He admitted.

“We need to talk about Megan. What’re we gonna do?”

“About what?”

“Custody, living arrangements. Who she stays with when. How we’re going to make decisions where she’s concerned. How we deal with vacations and things like that.” she answered. “We need to have some kind of plan, preferably soon. I don’t want to push you, but I also want Megan to have some form of stability.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity try to figure things out, and Oliver spends the day with his daughter.

Oliver and Felicity were sitting in a booth in the back of Big Belly Burger. He’d called her earlier that day, wanting to begin talking about custody of Megan. She seemed to be mostly concerned with making sure their daughter was happy and had a stable situation at home, so he hoped things would go well.

“I don’t really know how to start talking about this.” He admitted after they’d both ordered.

“How about you say what you want to happen, and I say what I want and we start trying to find a middle ground?”

“I want to be Megan’s dad. I want her to stay with me on a regular basis. I want us to make decisions about her together. The schedule and things like that, I’m not sure about yet, but that’s what I figured out so far.” He said. “What about you?”

“I’m fine with her staying with you sometimes, but I think for the time being, I should have her most days. I’m the parent she’s used to and I want to ease her in to going back and forth between us. I also don’t think its fair if I just throw both of you into the deep end of parenthood.”

“What do you mean by ‘staying with me sometimes’?”

“For right now, only a few days at a time. Or every other weekend or something.”

“I don’t want it to be that infrequent. I missed so much already. Seeing her two days out of 14 doesn’t seem fair.”

“You can see her more than that. I expect you to. I see your family all the time, I know you’re going to be there. When I say ‘stay with you’ I mean you have her for the whole day and overnight with me not really being there.”

“You can be there. If you want. I wouldn’t expect you to leave because it’s ‘my day’ or something.”

Felicity paused for a moment. “I think we need to think about this a little more. Make a list of things you want to happen and we’ll meet up next week to talk about it. There are plenty of things I haven’t considered when it comes to Megan that we need to work out. We seem to be in good shape though. We’re on the same page at least.” Her phone began to buzz. “I gotta go. I need to pick Megan up from preschool.”

“Can I come with you?” he asked. “I know its only been a day but I miss her already.”

“Yeah, if you can fit your very large muscular body into my Mini Cooper. Seriously, how are you this muscular. It’s like you’re photoshopped and- I’m babbling.”

He chuckled. “I hadn’t noticed. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

They were driving away from the restaurant and drove past Digg who was out looking for Oliver. They pulled up outside of the preschool and got out of the car. While they were waiting, Oliver asked if he could take Megan tomorrow for the whole day. Felicity agreed after some discussion about what he wanted to do with her. Soon enough, a line of preschoolers all holding hands came out of the building being led by a woman in here late 20s. Megan saw her parents and tore off in their direction. 

“Mommy! Daddy!”

“Hi, baby.”

“Hi Megan. Did you have fun at school?”

“Yeah, so much fun. We did letters and counted and I made you a gift, Daddy, and-“

“Why don’t we get in car and you can tell us all about it?” Felicity asked.

“Daddy’s coming home with us?” she asked excitedly.

“Yeah, if that’s okay with your mom.”

“I told him about all your art on the fridge and he said he had to see it.” she told the little girl.

They went to Felicity’s house and Megan excitedly showed Oliver everything. He got to see her stuffed animals, all her toys, her drawings on the fridge, where Felicity hid the cookies from her. The tour ended when Felicity announced it was snack time. After Megan’s afternoon snack, Oliver played with her while Felicity worked a little more. He wasn’t sure the rules of the game they were playing, but it didn’t matter because they had fun.

After some begging, and no shortage of Megan giving him puppy eyes, Oliver stayed for dinner. It was mac and cheese, which was apparently her favorite. He eventually had to leave, Hood business to handle, but Megan started to cry, saying she didn’t want him to go.

“Honey, you’ll see him tomorrow.”

“I will?”

“Yeah, you get to spend all day with him tomorrow.” Felicity assured her. Megan was satisfied with that and let Oliver leave in peace.

 

Oliver picked Megan up early the next morning. The four year old wanted to know where they were going and what they were going to do.

“I promised Grandma Moira we’d have breakfast with her. She was sad she didn’t get to see you last week.”

 “Is Raisa gonna make chocolate chip pancakes?” she asked excitedly.

“I don’t know, but I think if you ask her, she’ll make you some.”

“Ok. I’ll ask really, really nice. Mommy says if you ask someone for something, you need to be really, really nice so they’ll want to do it.”

“Your mommy’s a smart lady. You should listen to her.”

Breakfast started out well. Since Megan had asked very nicely, Raisa made her special chocolate chip pancakes. While she was engrossed in her food, Moira started talking to Oliver about working at Queen Consolidated.

“I’m not sure if that’s what I want.”

“I understand that, but its our family’s company, Your father’s-“

“I know that, Mom. But I just got back. I found out I’m a father. I didn’t go to business school. It’s- I’m not saying no permanently.” At least, not now he wasn’t. “I’m saying, I need to figure things out, a lot of things, before I can consider what you’re saying.”

“That’s fair enough.” Moira conceded.

When breakfast was over, Megan and Oliver went to the aquarium. Felicity had suggested it. He listened while Megan told him all about the animals they saw and explained which ones were her favorite. She liked clown fish the most because they had funny names and she liked that they were orange. He bought her a stuffed clownfish before they left. He dropped Megan off at Felicity’s house before leaving to get ready for his ‘back from the dead’ party Tommy was throwing. He’d invited Felicity but she said no.

 

The next day, Oliver finished telling the judge his account of what happened when the Queen’s Gambit went down. Walter and Moira made it sound so easy and it was in theory. Read a statement, be declared legally alive. He knew when he returned that he’d need to explain what happened, more than once. That didn’t make talking about the storm, his father’s death or the island any easier. He sat back down and let his lawyer take over.

"Your Honor, we move to vitiate the death-in-absentia filed after Oliver’s disappearance at sea aboard the Queen’s Gambit five years ago. unfortunately, we will not be requesting the declaration of death filed for the petitioner’s father, Robert Queen, be rescinded. The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I’m afraid.”

The judge banged her gavel and approved the motion. She then asked if there were any other matters to discuss. Oliver was confused by the question, but someone else in the room wasn’t. A man in the back of the room stood and approached the well.

“Yes, Your Honor. In light of Mr. Queen’s return from the dead, my client will be suing for five years of unpaid child support.”

“And your client is?”

“Felicity Smoak.”

Oliver, Moira, Walter, Tommy and Thea all gasped. Felicity wouldn’t do something like this. She’d claimed, from the very beginning, that she didn’t want or need the Queen’s money. It didn’t make sense, especially given how well Oliver and Felicity’s conversation went two night ago. The crowd began to become unruly and the judge demanded order.

“Where is Ms. Smoak?”

“She couldn’t be-“

“Um, hi. That’s me.” Felicity said awkwardly from the doorway. Getting Megan to preschool had been harder than usual that morning and she arrived at the courthouse later than she wanted to. “Why are you looking for me? Is this about Megan?”

“Your attorney says you wish to sue Mr. Queen for five years of child support.” The judge stated. “Since that is a matter for family court, I want to know why you chose now to declare such a thing or what you hope to gain from it.”

“My attorn- I don’t have an attorney. Well, I do have one, but I didn’t contact her about suing Oliver. I don’t want to sue him. Why would-?”

“This man is not your lawyer as he claims?” The judge said, gesturing to the man in the expensive suit who’d caused this scene.

“I’ve never seen this man before in my life.” She said. “Oliver and I are in the process of working out a custody agreement. We planned on presenting it in family court in a few weeks after further discussion. I don’t know who this man is, but he doesn’t represent me.”

“Ms. Smoak, if I could speak to you-“ The lawyer said. He’d read in the paper about Oliver Queen being alive. He, like everyone in the city, knew Megan Smoak was Oliver Queen’s daughter. If he could represent Felicity Smoak in her custody battle, it would fast-track his career. His plan was to offer his services pro bono and reap the benefits of a big payout after she won. He hadn’t had a chance to approach her and offer his services yet.

“I don’t know you. I don’t even know your name. You aren’t my lawyer. Why would I want to talk to you?”

The judge ended the hearing and people began to file out. Soon, only the Queens, Tommy and Felicity were still in the courtroom. “I don’t know what the frack just happened, but I had nothing to do with it. Please tell me you believe me.”

“I do. We all do.” he assured her.

“The paparazzi love drama, especially child custody drama. And plenty of people heard ‘Oliver Queen is alive’ and saw dollar signs. We should’ve guessed the vultures would swoop in at some point.”

“Don’t insult vultures like that, Mom.” Thea said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity tells Oliver a little about her last five years, the Hood confronts Somers and Oliver has a new experience before discovering something startling at the mansion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a quick note, not everything Oliver does as the Hood/Arrow will be shown. Some of it's happening in the background.

They walked out of the courtroom and Oliver collided with someone. that someone was Laurel and a very awkward conversation followed between the two of them. Luckily, Laurel’s coworker interrupted their stand-off by pointing out that they needed to get to their hearing against Martin Somers. It was a name that Oliver recognized from his father’s list.

As soon as they stepped outside the building, the press saw them and pounced. Flashbulbs started going off as reporters badgered everyone, but mostly Oliver and Felicity, with questions about their ‘bitter, court battle’. A few slightly less skeevy reporters shouted questions about Oliver’s father’s last words or what he was planning on doing now.

While Digg was trying to hold the press at bay, Oliver helped Felicity into the waiting car, got in himself and drove off. Tommy and John were left standing on the curb, confused about what had just happened.

“Wow, its been a while since I dealt with press like that.” Felicity remarked. It was too quiet in the car for her liking. “They’ve left me alone for so long that I guess I kinda got used to it.”

“They did?”

“The tabloids need drama or bad behavior to sell papers. They followed me everywhere when I was pregnant, but after I gave birth and didn’t do anything crazy or drastic, they stopped bothering me. I was too boring for them.”

“You’re not boring.”

“For the first year after Megan was born, I was. I went to work, I went shopping or to the park with her, I visited your family so that they could spend time with her, I went home. Nothing I did was particularly interesting.”

“So, the press hearing we’re in the middle of a very ugly custody battle-“

“Is like Christmas came early for them. They love drama that puts kids smack in the middle of Mommy and Daddy’s problems.”

“Good thing we’re pretty much agreeing on 80% of the custody things we’ve discussed so far.” He remarked. “Where do you need to go?”

“Queen Consolidated. I’ve got projects to finish. What about you?”

“I don’t know. Mom wants me to take up a position at the company but-“

“But that’s not what you want. It wasn’t five years ago, and I’m guessing it isn’t what you want now.”

“It’s not, but I don’t know how to tell her. I’ve said the words, but I don’t think she believes me.” Oliver said. “I just came back to civilization, I’m trying to adjust and I just found out I’m a dad. I can’t juggle all those things and be a Vice President.”

“Energy and persistence conquer all.” She said.

“What?”

“Energy and persistence. Keep telling her ‘no’. Have the same amount of energy and force behind it each time. If you keep doing that, she’ll eventually stop. It works, trust me.”

Felicity knew it would work on Moira because it had before. When she was pregnant with Megan, Moira had tried on several occasions to bribe Felicity into leaving town and not revealing who Megan’s father was. Every time, she heard the same confident response that Felicity didn’t want or need their money and just wanted to give the Queens a chance to be part of Megan’s life.

The rest of the drive was quiet and Oliver dropped Felicity off at QC before heading to the foundry to train and find information about Martin Somers. That night, he went to Somers’ office at the docks and threatened him, demanding he go to the police and confess to the murders he ordered.

The next day was Saturday and, per family tradition, Megan and Felicity went over to the Queen mansion for breakfast. The practice had started shortly after Megan was born when Thea would pester Felicity to come over every single day so she could see the baby until finally, the blonde caved and they planned for every Saturday to be the day she’d bring her over.

They had breakfast and then Megan asked if she could play outside. It was a beautiful day out, not too hot and not too cold, so everyone agreed and headed into the backyard. As soon as they stepped outside, Megan poked Oliver in the side and shouted “Daddy’s It!” before running off.

Oliver stood there, dumbstruck for a second. “You’re supposed to go chase her.” Felicity told him. “Please tell me you’ve played Tag before.”

“I have.”

“So, go play Tag with your daughter.” She said, gesturing to where Megan had run off to.

Oliver chased Megan around the backyard for a little bit, before she announced she didn’t want to play Tag anymore. Oliver, who was starting to tire from chasing the energetic four-year-old, was fine with that. He didn’t understand how she had so much energy. He was just sitting down on one of the lawn chairs when Megan grabbed his hand.

“Daddy, come on. I wanna show you something.” She pulled on his hand, trying to get him to stand up.

“What is it you want to show me?”

“I found something when we were playing Tag.” She continued to tug on his hand. “Come see!”

“Ok.” he said standing up. He let her take his hand and lead him towards a cluster of trees. They walked around one of the trees to where there were two stones sticking out of the ground.

“Look! It has your name on it!” Megan said, pointing to one of the stones.  Carved into the stone were the words ‘Oliver Queen, 1985-2007, A loving son and brother whose light was dimmed far too soon’. The one next to it bore his father’s name. The sight was a shock. He knew, logically, that since he’d been declared dead, there was a grave somewhere with his name on it, but he didn’t think he’d ever see it. He also didn’t expect it to be on the mansion’s grounds. “Why is your name on it?”

“When your daddy and Grandpa Robert went away and we couldn’t find them, we thought they died.” Thea said, walking up behind them. “Grandma Moira got them gravestones to remember them, so we could come out here and see them.”

“But Daddy’s alive, he doesn’t need one.” This didn’t make any sense to her. The little girl knew what death was, and her father who was alive, wasn’t dead. Since he wasn’t dead, why did he have a stone that meant he was? “He was just far away.”

“I know, but when he was far away, I’d visit him out here. Uncle Tommy, Grandma and your mommy did too. That’s how we told him all about you.”

“Oh.” She said. “Now that Daddy’s back, you don’t need to come out here.”

“You’re right.” Thea said. “Why don’t we go inside? It looks like it might rain.”

“Ok.” instead of taking Thea’s hand though, she turned and hugged Oliver’s leg. “I’m glad you’re here so Mommy and Aunt Thea and Grandma don’t have to talk to a rock anymore.”

“Me too.” Oliver made a mental note to have the gravestone removed as soon as possible.

That night, Oliver went over to Laurel’s to clear the air with her. There were a lot of things he needed to apologize for, and quite a few he needed to explain. The part he played in Sara’s death couldn’t be ignored, but neither could the fact that he’d gotten Felicity pregnant while they were ‘on a break’ and she’d found out after he ‘died’. He also really wanted to reconnect with one of his oldest friends, or at the very least, convince her not to hate him. While Oliver was trying to repair the bridges he’d burned five years ago, Triad assassins had broken into Laurel’s apartment and attacked them, trying to kill her. He fought them off, with help from Digg, before realizing he’d been too lenient with Somers. It was time to kick things up a notch.

He’d confronted Somers at the docks. The man confessed to having people killed by the Triad if they found out about his smuggling operation. Oliver recorded the confession and passed it on to Detective Lance when the man tried to arrest him. With the exception of a Triad assassin getting away, the night was an overall success.

Monday morning, it was time for the ceremony opening the Applied Sciences building named after Robert Queen. Moira asked Oliver on the way out the door if he had his speech prepared. He didn’t write one, to her annoyance. He couldn’t find the right things to say and didn’t want to half-ass something honoring his father. Moira asked how he expected to be a successful business man if he wasn’t willing to put in the effort. His response shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did.

“I’m not a businessman. I don’t want to work at Queen Consolidated. I never wanted to be CEO. I’ve been telling you this for days.”

“What are you going to do with your life then?”

“I don’t know.”

If he didn’t have Megan to think about, Oliver probably would’ve shown up late to the event, or drunk or both, and made an ass of himself. He didn’t want to cause a scene or embarrass his family like that. Anything he did could affect his custody of Megan, especially if it made him seem irresponsible or unfit to be a parent.  He didn’t want to work for QC, but he didn’t want lose Megan more. Playboy Oliver Queen might’ve been the easiest way to get his mother to back off, but it would make things harder for him in the long run.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Oliver is a slightly better liar, Lance is like a dog with a bone and Megan hates being called cute.

Felicity had just gotten to work for the day when there was a knock on the door to her office. She yelled for whoever it was to come in and Oliver entered the room. He had a nervous look on his face and was holding what looked like a computer in his hands. A heavily damaged computer.

“Hi, Felicity. I kinda- I need a favor. My computer got kinda-“

“Are those bullet holes?”

“I was getting some coffee and suddenly two guys burst into the coffee shop. I ducked under the table to hide, I got an email so the computer made a noise. It startled the robbers and they had weapons so-“

“Wait, so you and Mr. Diggle were at a coffee shop, robbers came in and he didn’t get you out of there before they shot your laptop?”

“Digg wasn’t with me, I kinda left the mansion before he showed up this morning.” He admitted. “Which, I know that was stupid of me but- I really need what’s on here. if you could recover anything, you’d be a lifesaver.”

She stared at him for a moment. She knew there was something he wasn’t telling her. After about thirty seconds of complete silence, she took the laptop from his hands and started working on it. His story was another thing to add to her ‘weird things about Oliver’ file along with people being suspicious about Robert’s death and fighting off the people who attacked Laurel’s apartment.

After about half an hour, Felicity was able to pull all the data off of the laptop. By looking at the registration, she knew it wasn’t Oliver’s, but belonged to someone named Warren Patel. He had blueprints of the exchange building, where the auction for Unidac Industries was being held that night. She gave Oliver the information and he stood to leave.

“Whatever you’re messing with, if anything happens to Megan because of it, I will end you.”

“It won’t.”

The auction took place, Oliver stopped Floyd Lawton, Diggle got shot and Oliver had to reveal his identity to him. Obviously, John wasn’t happy to learn the truth. While the Queen family was holed up in the mansion wondering where Oliver was, Felicity began to think back on the last day. Oliver bringing her the laptop was fishy enough, but then the auction was attacked by a sniper. Right after Oliver disappeared, the police caught sight of the Hood. She couldn’t believe she was thinking it, but was Oliver the vigilante?

Felicity and Megan had fallen asleep by the time Oliver came back from the foundry. No one saw him as he snuck into the house and headed to his room. The next night, Felicity and Megan were coming over for dinner with the Queen family. Shortly after the pair arrived, Raisa announced they had another visitor. A blonde woman he didn’t recognize came into the room.

“Mom?”

“Grandma!” Megan yelled as she ran over to hug Donna. She hugged the little girl back before turning to Felicity.

“Mom, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here for our visit. Didn’t you get my text?”

“You didn’t send me a text.” She said.

“Yes, I- see?” She pulled her phone out and showed it to Felicity.

“To send a text, you have to actually press ‘send’ on the text.”

“Oh. I’ll just do that now.” Donna hit the send button. She put her phone down and walked over to Oliver. He was about to introduce himself when she reached up and slapped him across the face. “That was for getting my daughter pregnant and then abandoning her.”

“I didn’t abandon her.” he said quietly. “I didn’t- when I got onto the boat, I didn’t know she was-“

“Mom, drop it. Please. It wasn’t his fault.”

“He isn’t completely blameless either.”

“Why is Grandma mad at Daddy?” Megan asked Thea.

“Because when he was away, Mommy got very sad. Grandma didn’t like seeing me sad so she got mad at your dad. She’s still a little angry, even though everyone’s happy he came back.” Felicity explained.

“I didn’t know Felicity was pregnant when I left. I won’t lie and say I would’ve stayed home if I knew, but it’s possible I would have. I already missed so much, I’m not gonna miss anything else.”

Dinner was awkward after that. It seemed that Donna didn’t just dislike him, she also disliked his mother, although he wasn’t sure why. Neither woman let anything slip, but he guessed it had something to do with Megan or Felicity’s pregnancy.

It wasn’t until he was driving Thea home from school that he discovered the truth. He was heading back to the mansion when she spoke up.

“So, last night was awkward.”

“Yeah, it was. I can see why she reacted that way though.”

“Yup. But at least Donna and Mom didn’t have the buy-out fight in front of Megan.”

“What buy-out fight?”

Thea froze. “She didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“When Felicity told Mom she was pregnant, Mom thought she was after money. She offered her a lot of money to leave town and never contact any of us again. When you were declared dead, she doubled the amount. Felicity kept turning her down. She wasn’t after money, she just wanted to do the right thing. Wanted us to have a chance to be in Megan’s life.”

“Mom tried to pay Felicity to go away?”

“Yeah, and Felicity’s mother found out shortly after the baby was born. It’s kinda why she glares at Mom every time she sees her.”

Having heard what his mother had tried to do to Felicity, there was a conversation Oliver and his mother clearly needed to have. He didn't blame Felicity or Donna now for things being tense between them. He was waiting for his mother to come home to talk with her in person. Unfortunately, before he could talk to his mother alone, the police burst into the house. They had a warrant to arrest Oliver for being the vigilante. He wasn't worried or anything, until he heard a high-pitched voice speak.

“Daddy?”

Megan had seen the whole thing and didn't understand what was going on. Lance began to say something but Felicity cut him off. “You have what you came for. You can go now.”

“Now, look-”

“I don't care.” She told him. “You're doing your job, yes. But last I checked, your job doesn't include bad mouthing Oliver to his daughter. And none of us asked to hear your opinion, so I don't understand why you're still here.”

“Just because-”

“C’mon partner.”

“Glad one of you isn't an asshole.” Thea said from where she was standing.

Lance and his partner left. Walter began calling the family lawyers. Moira turned to her driver and asked him to bring the car around. She was going to the police station. Megan was still confused and asked her mom what was going on.

“The police think your dad is the Hood.”

“But the Hood is a good guy. He helps people. Why are they angry?”

“Well, the Hood might be a good guy, but he broke some rules helping people and it made some people mad.”

 

Oliver sat in the interrogation room as Lance threw accusations at him. He didn’t respond to any of it other than to deny being the Hood and saying he wasn’t who Lance thought he was. Eventually, Moira arrived and demanded to speak with Oliver while Walter informed the detective that their lawyers were on the way. He refused to use their normal attorney and insisted Laurel represent him. The bail hearing went quickly, and before he knew it, the judge had ordered Oliver wear an ankle monitor until trial.

Needing to be seen while Diggle put on the hood that night, Oliver decided to throw a huge party. It was going to be prison themed of course. Thea, Moira and Felicity all wondered aloud, to him, if that was a good idea. He brushed it off by saying he wanted to show everyone that he wasn’t worried about the trial.

Oliver came back from a meeting with Lance and the DA only for Megan to run up to him as soon as she got inside the house “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!”

“Megan! Megan! Megan!” He responded.

“Do you like my costume?” she asked, spinning around. Megan was wearing a kid’s police officer costume. She looked adorable and Oliver had to fight the urge to say that. Yesterday, she’d gotten upset when Thea called her cute, because according to her, she was ‘a big girl, not a baby’. Still, she looked pretty cute. “I got it for the party!”

“I like it, but this is a party for grown-ups.” He told her.

“I know, but Mommy said I could go for a little bit to see everybody and show them my cool costume.”

“Oh, well, if Mommy says so…” Oliver trailed off. He was saved from having to respond by Felicity’s arrival.

“Megan, can you go over to Aunt Thea for a second? I need to talk to your dad. About some boring grown-up stuff.”

“Ok.” she said before running off.

“They’re right, aren’t they?” Felicity said when Megan was out of earshot. “The police. You’re the Hood.”

“No, I’m not. How could you think-?”

“I think your story about being saved from kidnappers had one too many holes in it. I think you brought me a busted laptop that had blueprints on it and the very next day, the Hood was seen fighting a hitman across the street from that same building.”

“That’s just-“

“What? A coincidence?” she interrupted. “No. Your ‘back from the dead’ party being across the street from Adam Hunt’s office is a coincidence.”

“I’m not the vigilante.” He said irritably.

Still unconvinced, Felicity left to find Megan. Oliver watched her leave, wondering how she was able to work out what no one else, except Lance who hated him, could. He finalized his plans with Digg before heading down to the party. He reached the pool deck and saw a group of women huddled off to the side. Moving over there, he heard them all gushing over something.

“I like your costume.” One of them said.

“I know. She’s like a little adult.” Another, who was already pretty drunk, remarked. “So cute!”

“I’m not cute!” A tiny, and very cute, voice yelled. “I don’t like you! Go away!”

Oliver pushed to the front of the crowd where Megan was. She was holding Felicity’s hand like her life depended on it. The four-year-old was sitting on one of the deck chairs, glaring at the woman who called her cute.

“They’re so cute when they’re angry.” One of the women said patronizingly. She moved her arm to pat Megan on the head.

“Touch her and you won’t get the arm back.” Felicity said in a serious tone.

“Relax.” The woman insisted.

“I will, once you get away from my child.”

The woman scoffed and walked off. She tried to catch Oliver’s eye, but he wasn’t paying attention to anyone except Felicity and Megan. She was starting to think letting Megan come to the party was a mistake. Or, at the very least, they should’ve left before any drinking started.

“Hello, Ms. Police Officer Lady.” Oliver said taking a seat next to Megan.

“Daddy!”

“Are you having fun?”

“No. The grown-ups keep treating me like a baby and Mommy didn’t dress up too.”

“It’s not Halloween.” Felicity defended. “Besides, I don’t think I could beat your awesome costume.”

“But Daddy dressed up!”

“I know he did, honey.” Felicity said right as Megan yawned. “I think its time to go home. Time for bed.”

“No, you said I could stay.”

“I said you could stay for a little bit, but you’re sleepy which means its time for bed.” She said, picking the girl up from the chair. “Let’s go find Mommy’s car.”

“Stay here tonight.” Oliver said.

“I’m not sure-“

“If you parked here, you’re probably already blocked in. And the roads around here aren’t lit very well.” He told her. “Just for tonight. There’s an empty room next to mine. Or next to Thea’s if that makes you more comfortable.”

“Fine.” She didn’t really want to drive home at this time anyway.

Felicity and Oliver took Megan upstairs and put her to bed. Oliver went back to the party, while Felicity didn’t, electing to spend the rest of the evening on her computer. A little after midnight, he checked in with Digg, making sure things went according to plan. After the phone call ended, there was a knock on his door. Before he could answer, a man with a gun broke in and attacked him. Lance stopped the man and had to admit that, since the Hood had been seen that night, Oliver was innocent.

Lance was on his way out when a woman’s voice called out to him. “Hope you learned your lesson.”

“Lesson about what?”

“You accused Oliver with no real evidence. You put his life in danger.” Donna Smoak yelled. “Which in turn meant my daughter and my granddaughter were in danger! I’m sorry about your daughter but if you think your family is the only one that matters, you shouldn’t be a police officer.”

“Look, lady, I-“

“I don’t care. You could’ve gotten someone killed. Someone who didn’t have anything to do with it. Stay away from my family.”

The next morning, Oliver’s exoneration was all over the news. Moira, Walter and Thea all seemed happy. Megan was noticeably not happy.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was hoping it was Daddy.”

“What?”

“I was hoping Daddy was the man in the Hood.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s like a superhero. I wanted Daddy to be a superhero.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the past Oliver tries to get to know Felicity. In the present, he talks with his mother and realizes Megan won't be so young forever.

“I was hoping Daddy was the man in the Hood.” Megan said, pouting.

“Why?”

“Because he’s like a superhero. I wanted Daddy to be a superhero.”

Oliver wasn’t sure what to do, but Felicity was. She walked over to Megan and bent down. “Daddy doesn’t need to be a superhero. You wanna know why?” the little girl nodded. “Because you are one. And it wouldn’t be fair to me if both you and Daddy were superheroes and I wasn’t.”

“Mommy, you can be a superhero too.”

“I can? What should my power be?”

“Super ‘puter things!”

“Super computer things? I like the sound of that.” She remarked. With the crisis averted, it was time for her to go to school. “Oh, its almost time for preschool. We need to get ready.” Megan ran off back upstairs and she turned to Oliver. “We need to talk later.”

Before he could ask what this was about, Megan came running back downstairs. “C’mon. We’re gonna be late.”

“Megan, school doesn’t start for over an hour. We have plenty of time.”

“But I wanna go now! I wanna see my friends and tell them all about Daddy’s party, and my cool costume and-.”

“Oliver, our daughter loves school.” Felicity cut in. “It might seem weird to you, but she wants to go. Let’s go get in the car.”

“I want you Daddy to take me!”

“Well, someone’s in a mood today.” She turned to Oliver. “Do you mind taking her?”

“Nope, not at all.” He answered.

Megan sat in her car seat with her legs kicking back and forth. She was really excited to go back to school and see her friends again.

“What are you so excited about?”

“School. I get to see my friends again and tell them about Grandma visiting, and what I did this weekend and playing with you and Auntie Thea and-.”

Before she could finish listing all the things she wanted to tell her friends about, they reached the school and Oliver got out to let Megan out of her car seat. She put on her pink, sparkly backpack and ran towards a group of kids standing on the playground.

“Hi Megan!” Several of them yelled at her, waving.

“Hi Ally! Hi, Emily! Hi, Becca!” she said to her friends.

“My mommy said your daddy’s a superhero, is that true?”

“Mommy says no, but I think he is.” She whispered to her friend. “That’s how he survived on the island.” She turned back to Oliver. “Bye Daddy!”

Just then, one of the teachers came outside and started to lead the kids in. “Bye Megan. Have fun at school.” He got into the car and drove off.

Her friends started asking her questions, wondering what she knew about the island Oliver was marooned on. “Did the island have coconuts?”

“Were there those trees like in the movies?”

“Was it sandy?”

* * *

 

**2007**

One week after she fixed his computer, Oliver Queen came back to Felicity’s cubicle. “Hey.”

“Hi.” She said politely. “What bring you down here? Don’t tell me you froze your computer again.”

“Nah, I took your advice and went with some more….mainstream options.”

“I really didn’t need to know that.” Felicity said, closing her eyes for a few seconds. She didn’t, and shouldn’t, need to know what kind of porn her boss’s son looked at or where he got it from. “Why are you down here then?”

“I was bored. Hoped we could hang out.”

“Hang out? You know I’m at work right now, right? Like, this is my job, people expect me to do it.” She said incredulously. “And I can’t really tell Mr. White that I didn’t do my work because Mr. Queen’s son came down and wanted to ‘hang out’, regardless of how attractive you are.”

“You think I’m attractive?” He said cockily.

“Don’t pretend to be humble, you can’t pull it off. You know what you look like, in spite of that mop on your head. Ugh. Anyway, I’ve got work to do and you’ve got- whatever it is you do.” She turned back towards her work.

“What about after work? You don’t work 24/7.”

She spun back around and shot him a look. “What is this?”

“What’s what?”

“Your angle here. I’m not exactly your type, not being a leggy brunette and all, and I doubt you’re talking to me because you wanna hear about the latest processors. What’s your interest?”

“I guess you’ll have to hang out with me to find out.”

* * *

 

**Present**

After being cleared of being the Hood, Oliver only had one thing on his mind: talking to his mother. She’d tried to bribe Felicity, more than once, and the only reason it hadn’t worked, and he’d even gotten to meet Megan, was because Felicity was the one person in the city who was more stubborn than Moira.

He’d returned from dropping Megan off at preschool and ran into his mother. Not wanting to delay things any further, he asked if they could talk and followed her into the sitting room.

“So, I was talking to Speedy a few days ago, and she said something interesting. About you and something that happened when I first disappeared.”

Moira sat up a little straighter and looked directly at him. “What did she tell you?”

“That you tried to pay Felicity to go away. To leave and never contact our family again.”

“You have to understand-.”

“What? What do I have to understand? That you didn’t want Felicity or Megan in your life? That you thought she was using our family tragedy to her advantage, that she was that kind of person?” He said.

“I didn’t- I didn’t know her back then, not really.”

“You knew we’d been….something before Dad and I left. You knew- she wasn’t some random woman. Yet, you treated her like some vulture looking to get rich or famous.” He argued. “You almost- if Felicity wasn’t so strong-willed, I never would’ve met Megan. My daughter would’ve grown up without me.”

“Oliver-.”

“Save it.” He said, turning and leaving the room.

Digg and Oliver went to the foundry to spar for a few hours before Tommy called, asking if he could meet for a late lunch. They spent the meal catching up before Oliver realized it was time to pick Megan up from school. Tommy ended up tagging along. They pulled up outside the school and waited for the class to be led out. The doors opened and the same teacher led the class outside. Megan was walking towards Oliver’s car when a little boy called out to her.

“I like your shirt.”

She was wearing a shirt Oliver had bought her when they went to the aquarium. It had drawings of different fish on it. “Thanks Billy! My daddy got it for me when we went to see the fishies. I like your shoes.” Billy’s black and blue sneakers lit up every time he took a step, which was super cool for preschoolers.

“Why are you growling?” Tommy asked. His friend had started to grip the wheel tighter and let out a growl.

“That boy, he’s flirting with her.”

“He’s four. They don’t know how to flirt.” Tommy pointed out. “Don’t worry so much. They’re not dating….yet.”

“Not helping.” He said before getting out of the car. He walked over to his daughter, whose friend had gotten picked up before he reached her. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.” She said, taking his hand and walking over to the car with him. Then, she saw who was in the passenger seat. “Uncle Tommy!”

“Hey munchkin.”

“I’m not a munchkin!”

 

He took Megan back to the mansion and got her settled in one of the sitting rooms with some toys. Raisa also made her an afterschool snack. The afternoon was quiet and then Felicity came to pick her up.

“We need to talk. About your night-time activities.”

“Felicity, I’m not- the police dropped the charges.”

“Yes, they did. Doesn’t mean they were wrong.”

“If I was the Hood, how could I have been here and across town at the same time?”

“You couldn’t, and you had a house full of people who saw you here. You know who they didn’t see? Your bodyguard, and since no one knows what the Hood’s face looks like, having someone else wear the suit wouldn’t be a big deal.”

“You can’t-.”

“You know, you aren't a very good liar, Oliver.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver tries to avoid admitting the truth, Megan has questions about a certain island and Walter brings Felicity a mystery.

“You know, you aren’t a very good liar, Oliver.” Felicity said. leaning back in her chair. “Or maybe that’s because you haven’t tried to lie to me before.”

“I’m not-“

“You remember I grew up in Las Vegas, right? I can spot someone’s tell from a mile away, including yours.” She pointed out. “You’re the Hood.”

He debated denying it one more time, but if he remembered anything about Felicity, it was how stubborn she was. “Yes, I am. Although I hate that name.”

“Well yeah, its stupid.” She remarked. “Why? I mean, I assume you aren’t doing this for giggles.”

“My father asked me to right his wrongs, I’m trying to do that.”

“And let me guess, that’s how you got that laptop.”

“Yes. The hitman who was targeting businessmen, the same one who shot up the auction, it belonged to him. It was given to him by his ‘employer’.”

“You put our daughter in danger.” She said angrily.

“No, I-“

“When you were taken, you and Tommy, Megan was with you. You put her in danger.”

“No. The person who orchestrated the kidnapping did. I didn’t know or even suspect that was going to happen. I wouldn’t have brought her with me if I did.” he argued. “If you believe nothing else I’m saying, please tell me you believe that.”

She sighed. “I do, which is why I’ve been trying to figure out who ordered the kidnapping.”

“You’re looking for them?”

“They kidnapped my baby. Of course I am.” She said matter-of-factly.

Oliver looked at her and made a decision. She knew his secret already, so asking for her help wasn’t as big of a risk as it was yesterday. “I don’t suppose you’d wanna join the team?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not exactly the archery type.”

“No, but you’re a skilled hacker, if my memory’s correct. And sometimes, we need those skills.”

“We? So it was Mr. Diggle under that hood during the party.” She remarked. “I don’t kill people.”

“Neither do I, except when I have to. Like the armed kidnappers who attacked me and could’ve hurt my daughter.” He responded.

“I’m not saying yes, but I’m not saying no either. I just- there’s a lot I need to think about.” Felicity said before leaving foyer to find Megan playing in one of the sitting rooms. She bent down to her daughter’s level. “Did you have fun today?”

“Yeah!” She yelled excitedly. “Wait, I need to ask Daddy something. Were there coconuts on the island? Was it sandy? Did it have palm trees?”

Megan was four years old. In her mind, every island was a tropical island because that’s what she’d seen on TV. All islands were warm and had palm trees and coconuts. It wasn’t until her friends asked her questions about the island Oliver was on that she remembered she hadn’t asked him all of the burning questions she had.

Oliver looked at Felicity, unsure of how he should answer her questions. “No. It wasn’t a like that. It was really cold and rainy most of the time.”

“Oh. Did you bring a sweater so you wouldn’t be cold?” the little girl asked.

“No, I didn’t.”

“That’s because he didn’t listen to me.” Felicity interjected. Megan always argued when she tried to make her wear a sweater. She’d say that she wasn’t cold, so she didn’t need one. She could also tell that Oliver was starting to get uncomfortable at the discussion. “He didn’t bring a sweater and he got really cold.”

“If it wasn’t warm and sandy like in Ariel, what was it like?” She asked. Megan called _The Little Mermaid_ Ariel because for some reason, she had trouble with the word mermaid.

“Well, it was a bit like camping, but without a tent or a sleeping bag.” He answered.

“That doesn’t sound very fun.” The pre-schooler said.

“C’mon, honey. It’s time to go home.” Felicity said, taking her daughter’s hand. Oliver walked them to the front door and on the way out, she turned back to address him. “I’ll call you later about….you know.”

“Ok.” He said.

 

The next day, Felicity was at work when Walter came into her office. He seemed anxious which was weird for her to witness. She didn’t think it was possible for the man to get nervous.

“I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor.”

“Sure.”

He handed her a few sheets of paper. “There’s a discrepancy in one of the company accounts. I was wondering if you could look into it.”

“Me? Not accounting?”

“Yes, you. I’d like to keep this quiet if I can.” Walter explained.

“Ok, I’ll see what I can find out.” Felicity told him. He thanked her and left the room.

She spent the next few hours looking through all of Queen Consolidated’s transactions for the last five years. Nothing suspicious showed up, so she searched even further back. In 2005, she found a check for 2.6 million dollars that had been written to a company called Tempest LLC. The name didn’t sound familiar to her, so she looked into it. Soon, she discovered the company didn’t exist. Felicity held off on telling Walter what she’d discovered right away, wanting to learn more before talking to him about this again.

 

Felicity got off of work and, like the previous day, went to the Queen Mansion to pick up Megan. Despite her conflicted feelings about Oliver’s actions, she was happy Megan was getting to spend more time with her father. She arrived at the mansion to discover that her mother was already there.

“Mom, what are you doing here?”

“Oliver invited me to your family dinner tonight.” Donna answered. “He mentioned we’d gotten off on the wrong foot and wanted to clear the air.”

“Remember, the three of us were going to have dinner tonight?” Oliver asked. They’d agreed to have dinner, just the two of them and Megan, but that was before Felicity had confronted Oliver about being the Hood.

“Oh, right. Sorry. I guess I forgot because of work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About yesterday's news: I have no idea what to say, because the news hasn't fully processed in my brain yet.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Queen family gets a scare and Megan gets to spend some time with her grandmothers.

They ended up eating at a moderately priced Italian restaurant in Pennytown that Felicity recommended. After the waiter left their table upon taking their drink orders, Donna, Felicity and Oliver all stared at each other. Megan was preoccupied with coloring the kids menu and didn’t sense the awkwardness.

“So, Donna, I know Felicity told me this before I….went away, but what do you do?” She also face-palmed when he asked that.

“I work at Caesar’s Palace.” She answered.

“The casino in Las Vegas?”

“Yeah, my mom’s a cocktail waitress, remember?” Felicity interjected.

“Something Felicity swore she’d never become, but if your step-father wasn’t quite so understanding, that’s exactly what would’ve happened, because she almost had to drop out of her Master’s program when she found out she was pregnant.” Donna said with an edge to her voice.

“Mom. He’s already apologized. He’s already told you he didn’t know I was pregnant. I know you’re upset but don’t take it out on him for not knowing. I’m the one who waited to tell him.”

“You did?” Oliver asked.

“I- you left the day after I found out. We weren’t really- I didn’t know where we stood. I didn’t feel right showing up at the docks to tell you. My plan was to call you after you got back and- obviously, that didn’t happen. And in a very mean twist of fate, and some bad planning on my part, I told your mother I was pregnant the day before your funeral.”

“What are you talking ‘bout?” Megan said, looking up from her coloring.

“What happened when I found out I was going to have a baby.”

“What happened?” The girl asked.

“Well, I got really excited, so I told Grandma Donna and Grandma Moira. And they were excited too.”

Moira’s excitement wouldn’t be considered positive, but she didn’t need to know that. Oliver saw Donna snort before taking a sip of water. He realized he still hadn’t discussed his mother’s reaction with Felicity and he didn’t want to put it off any longer.

“Speaking of when you told my family, I wanted to-“

“Why don’t we talk about it later?” Felicity suggested.

Oliver nodded before looking over to Donna. “I can’t change the past. I won’t sit here and pretend like I was better person five years ago than I actually was. If I could’ve been here for Felicity and Megan from the start, I would have. All I can do is try my best moving forward. And tell you I’m not the same man as I was back then.”

Donna seemed satisfied with that response and let the matter drop. Dinner was a lot less awkward after that. Donna had driven her rental car to the restaurant, so Felicity wound up needing to give Oliver a ride back to the mansion.

“Are we gonna talk about it?” He asked her, referring to Moira’s attempts to buy her off.

“Yeah, but not right now. Tiny ears are listening.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what? It better not be your mom’s behavior, because you didn’t have anything to do with that. The only person who needed to apologize was your mother, and she has.”

“She actually apologized?” He asked a little surprised.

“Yes.” Felicity hadn’t gotten a formal apology, but Moira had apologized in a way. She’d tell him about it later, when Megan wasn’t around.

She dropped Oliver off back at the mansion and then drove home. Oliver went inside only to change so he could head back out and cross a name off of his list. As he walked to his room, he realized that maybe it was time for him to move out. He was in his late twenties, he had a child of his own, but he was still living with his mother. the situation also meant Felicity kept having to see someone who wasn’t nice to her in the past every time she came to pick Megan up. He didn’t think that was fair. Not deciding anything now, Oliver headed to the foundry to continue his mission.

 

The next day, around lunchtime, Oliver drove to QC. He was supposed to have lunch with his mother, who hadn’t really talked to since he confronted her about what happened when Felicity was pregnant. He pulled up to the building right as Felicity walked out. He didn’t see his mother, so he walked over to her to say hi. Felicity was taking her lunch break and going to a bistro around the corner. He wanted to ask for her help with something Hood-related, but she told him that was a conversation for later and continued on her way. As she turned the corner, Moira exited the building talking to a dark-haired man in a suit.

Suddenly, someone on a motorcycle drove up and opened fire on the pair, hitting the man. Oliver took off running after the shooter, but lost them when a car got in his way. He rushed back to QC to find Moira being taken into an ambulance. She hadn’t been hit, but when the gunshots rang out, the man she was with pushed her out of the way and she fell and hit her head. Since she might have a concussion, the EMTs that were responding to the call wanted to take her to the hospital just in case.

At the hospital, Lance pulled him aside to ask him what he saw and why he ran after the shooter. He knew the detective was still suspicious of him, but he explained that he was trying to get the license plate number of the motorcycle. He only half-believed Oliver and told him that was a stupid thing to do. Oliver mentioned his concerns about his mother’s safety, but Lance told him the man who’d been killed had ties to organized crime and that he was most likely the intended target.

They went back into Moira’s hospital room and Megan ran in a few seconds later. Donna and Felicity followed in after her. “Grandma? Are you okay?”

“Megan, use your inside voice, okay?” Felicity said.

“I’m fine. My head just hurts a little bit because I fell down.” Moira assured her. “You know what might make me feel better? A big hug from my granddaughter.” Megan ran over to her and hugged her tightly.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Me too.”

“You brought her here?” Oliver asked Felicity while Megan was telling Moira about preschool.

“Yeah, I thought it was a better idea than waiting until the end of the day and dealing with a bunch of press.” She answered. “Detective.”

“Ms. Smoak.” Lance excused himself to return to the precinct and continue working the case.

“Can you come to my father’s old steel factory?” Oliver asked after Lance left. “I’m sure Megan doesn’t wanna leave yet and your mom can watch her.”

“Why would I wanna go to a steel factory?”

“I need your help.” He admitted.

Felicity walked over to her daughter and asked if she’d be okay with both her grandmothers for a few hours. The preschooler asked where she was going, and she said Oliver needed her help with some boring grown-up things.

Felicity followed Oliver to the factory and entered the lair he’d set up. She saw his computers and nearly had a heart attack. “This set-up hurts my soul, so much. How can you make these beautiful babies suffer so much?”

“Uh, what?”

“Your computer set-up, its very bad. So is your system in general. I’m gonna fix it, before I start having nightmares about it.” She said as she started moving things around. “Is this why you asked me to come?”

“No, actually. I need your help IDing the shooter from today.” He said. “It’s the third death of this kind in less than a week, which Lance seems to think isn’t going to stop soon.”

“Sure, this totally doesn’t have to do with your mother.”

“Yes, I’m angry someone shot at my mother. and I can’t stop thinking about how many other people have, or will, also be hurt by this guy if we don’t stop him. Please, just help me find a connection.”

“Okay.” Felicity said as she continued her work.

Sometime during her reparations of the system, John entered the lair. “Hey man, I- what is she doing here?”

“Relax. I already knew he was the Hood or whatever. And I already knew you were working with him.” She said without looking up.

“You did? How?”

“I’m a genius, certified, and both of you are crappy liars.” She answered. “Ok, updates are done. Let’s find out what our victims have in common.” She announced as she started searching for a connection. The program ran for several moments before Felicity read what the screen was outputting. “Huh, that’s weird?”

“What? What’s weird?”

“They all work, supposedly, for Frank Bertinelli in some way, whose, allegedly, in the mafia.”

 

After a few hours at the hospital, Moira was cleared by the doctors to go home. Megan and Donna went with her. The latter going because while Moira had been cleared, she still had a concussion and trying to keep up with a hyperactive 4 year old wouldn't be easy.

They arrived back at the mansion and Megan immediately wanted to play with her grandmothers. Thankfully, Donna had a better idea. When the preschooler ran upstairs to grab some dolls to play with, she followed after her.

“Why don't we save the Barbies for later? Maybe when your parents come back.” Donna didn't have anything against Barbies, but Megan tended to make a bit of a mess while playing with them and she wanted to avoid that.

“That's a good idea. Barbie looks like Mommy and Ken looks like Daddy! Do you think they know that?”

“Well, I think your mom does, I don't know about your dad.” Donna said. “How about we watch a movie instead? I think your Grandma Moira’s head still hurts a little bit.”

“Okay.” The girl said, running to find Moira. “Grandma, wanna watch a movie with me and Grandma Donna?”

“I’d love to. What are we gonna watch?”

“Ariel!” She yelled a little too excitedly. Moira winced at the volume.”Sorry, I didn't mean to be so loud.”

“It's okay, sweetheart.”

“Why do you wanna watch The Little Mermaid.?” Moira loved her granddaughter, and The Little Mermaid was a good film, but she’d had to sit through that movie way too many times already.

“She's my favoritest princess, and Daddy took me to see the fishes and I saw ones that look like flounder and the fish from the song, and when Daddy told me about his island, it made me think about Ariel. Can we watch it? Please?” Megan threw in a quivering lip and wide eyes at the end just for effect.

“Of course we can.” Moira sighed. One more time wouldn't kill her.

“Yay! Grandma Donna, come watch Ariel with us!”

They watched the movie. When it was over, Megan announced she wanted to be a mermaid when she grew up.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver tries to figure out who's behind the shooting at QC.

“Other than the organized crime connection, there really isn’t anything the victims have in common.” Felicity told Oliver. “In my defense, the organized crime connection is very strong. And it’s definitely the reason they’re dead.”

“How can you conclude that?”

“You do remember that I grew up in Las Vegas right?” She said. “Seems like someone’s hunting down Bertinelli’s men.”

“Any way you can find out who?”

“Is it possible? Yes. Will it be easy? No. There are plenty of people who hold a grudge against Frank Bertinelli and that doesn’t even consider business rivals. For either business.”

“This sounds like a mob war waiting to happen.”

Felicity got some searches running so that Oliver would know when another attack occurred before realizing the time. It was getting close to dinner time and she should probably leave to pick Megan up. They drove back to the mansion, which was surprisingly quiet when they got there. They expected Megan, having spent all day with her grandmothers, to be bouncing off of the walls from excitement. Instead, they found her in the TV room drawing with some crayons. Donna was watching her.

“Megan, look who’s here?”

The preschooler looked up and saw her parents. “’Mommy! Daddy!”

“Hey, sweetie. Did you have fun with Grandma Donna and Grandma Moira today?” Felicity asked.

“Yeah. We watched Ariel and then Grandma Moira read me a story and Grandma Donna drew pictures with me.” She told them. “Wanna see?”

“Of course we do.” Megan proudly showed them her picture. They weren’t entirely sure what it was supposed to be of, but that didn’t matter.

“Wow! That’s a very good drawing. You’re very talented.” Oliver told her.

“Really?”

“Yes, I love it. I like all the colors. Do you like it?”

“Yeah, but- sometimes I don’t think my drawings are very good.”

“But they’re so good!”

“No, its not. It doesn’t even look like the fishies Daddy and I went to see.” She said.

Now, the drawing made sense. The blobs of color were clearly different types of fish and the blue was the water in their tanks.

“Yes it does. See, this one’s a clown fish, right?” Felicity said, pointing to some orange circles. Megan nodded. “And they are those blue fish like Dory, right?” The girl nodded again. “We know what they are. You did a really good job!”

“You really like it?”

“Of course I do. Would I lie to you?” She asked. Megan shook her head. “Other than drawing this great picture, and watching the Little Mermaid, did you do anything else fun?”

“Well, I wanted to play Barbie, but Grandma Donna asked me to wait.” She explained. “Barbie looks like you. And Ken looks like Daddy!”

Felicity had been compared to Barbie before, mostly by chauvinists who didn’t respect her opinion or her degree. She’d never heard someone compared Oliver Queen to a Ken doll however and couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Really?”

“Uh-huh.” She picked up the dolls and held them out. “See?”

“You’re right, that does look like your dad.”’

Oliver watched all of this unfold with a perplexed look. He’d been called a lot of things and compared to plenty of people, but being compared to a doll was a first. “I think we both know that I have something Ken doesn’t.” He said with a raised eyebrow.

“What’s that?” Megan asked in confusion.

Panicking, and not wanting to explain the grown-up joke, he answered. “An amazing daughter named Megan of course.”

“Oh.”

“Megan, why don’t you go grab your things so we can go home?” Felicity said. The preschooler ran off and Felicity glared at Oliver. “I shouldn’t have to say this, but don’t make dick jokes in front of our four-year-old.”

“Sorry, it just kinda- I didn’t think it through.”

“Please don’t let it happen again. I don’t wanna have to explain to a curious preschooler why boys and girls have different bathrooms.” Felicity said.

“That’s fair enough.”

Felicity and Megan left when the little girl came downstairs. Oliver headed out to Frank Bertinelli’s house. His cover story was that he was helping his mother out with some things while she recovered from her injury earlier that day and all she’d told him was that she was meeting with one of Bertinelli’s employees to discuss a project. Frank saw an opportunity to get Oliver to say ‘yes’ to a proposal his mother had been turning down, but was called away before he could give him a sales pitch.

Frank claimed he had to leave, but asked his daughter Helena to take Oliver to dinner. Based on her expression, she wasn’t happy about the request but went along with it at her father’s insistence.

“Kinda surprised you agreed to this,” Helena said after they were seated at an Italian restaurant, “I mean, I thought you were with your daughter’s mother.”

“I am,” he lied. He and Felicity hadn’t had a chance to discuss their relationship since he’d been back, “but this isn’t a date. It’s a business dinner.”

“I don’t think my father knows that.”

“I don’t think he needs to, do you?” He challenged.

It wasn’t long before Helena brought up the island. She asked him about being alone there and if there was ever a time there when he felt “free”. It became clear early on that she wasn’t dealing well with the pressure of being who she was. Dinner was cut short when Digg called saying he needed to talk to Oliver right now.

He returned to the foundry where his partner told him that Frank’s lieutenant was going around the city, threatening everyone who paid Frank protection money for another payment. Based on the people he’d already threatened, the Russos, who owned the restaurant Oliver and Helena were just at, were the next targets. Oliver changed into his hood and headed out to help them.

Oliver reached the restaurant right before Salvati, Frank’s lieutenant, could break the owner’s hands. He started fighting the mafia members threatening the couple, focusing on the muscle men first and deciding to deal with Salvati afterwards. In the middle of the foray, the motorcyclist who’d shot at Moira arrived and started attacking the mob members as well. The biker then started fighting Oliver, giving Salvati a chance to escape.

Oliver and the unknown assassins fought for several minutes, and while his opponent was good, it was clear that they weren’t as experienced as he was at this. Still, Oliver wanted answers about what their motive was and why they’d taken to shooting people in broad daylight. When the motorcyclist tried to shoot Oliver, he fired an arrow at their helmet visor and used the momentum to pull the helmet off. Helena stared back at him for a few seconds before running off.

Oliver made it back to the foundry but was still in shock at who the person killing Bertinelli’s men was. Why was Helena attacking people who worked for her father? He couldn’t answer that, but he knew Felicity might be able to find something. He called her and asked her to find anything on Helena that would explain why she was killing her father’s men. It didn’t take Felicity long to find an answer. Helena’s fiancé Michael had been killed and all signs pointed to it being a mob hit.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver tries to help Helena, while Felicity goes a different route.

After learning Helena was the person killing members of the Bertinelli crime family, Oliver went back to the lair to process the news. John was already down there and he had to explain what happened. He argued that Helena had to have a good reason for doing what she was doing, but John was skeptical. She was killing people and didn't seem to care very much about anyone who might wind up in the middle if the shooting at Queen Consolidated was anything to go by.

Oliver insisted that he could get through to Helena if he tried and resolved to learn her reasons as stop the mob war she seemed intent on starting. He called Felicity the next morning, asking her if she could track a phone for him. He didn't tell her who he was trying to follow, just that the person was connected to the shooting.

She tracked Helena’s phone to a graveyard, and Oliver drove there to meet her. Helena was visiting her fiancé’s grave when he walked up behind her. She was starting to tell Oliver about Michael when a black van drove up behind them and two men forced Oliver and Helena into this van. To Oliver's surprise, one of the men abducting them was Nick Salvati, Frank's right-hand man. How had the man figured out that Helena was the shooter?

The pair were taken to a warehouse and tied up. Salvati then outlined that he knew Helena was the assassin because he’d found her cross necklace at the Russo’s restaurant after the fight last night. He demanded to know why she was killing people who worked for her father. Helena explained that she knew her father had killed her fiancé. She loved Michael and when he died, she vowed she'd make her father pay for his death. Nick revealed that he was the one who killed Michael, using his signature way of killing to do it. He did it on Frank's orders since they'd discovered proof that Michael was really an FBI informant and they'd found a laptop full of evidence of the family's activities.

She then revealed that Michael wasn't the informant, she was. She'd wanted a life free of her family and resolved to destroy her father’s empire to achieve that. Salvati was in the middle of telling Helena shed burn in hell for betraying her family when Helena broke free from her restraints and attacked him. Oliver had been playing helpless, but when Helena rushed forward, he didn't see the point in doing that any longer. He dislocated his thumb and began fighting one of the other mobsters on the building.

He dealt with the muscle while Helena took on Nick. He tried to avoid killing the two men, but it was hard to just disarm them when they were trying to shoot him in the head. He didn't want to kill them, but they weren't going to stop, so Oliver broke both of their necks. He turned back to where Helena was in time to see her break Nick's neck.

“Helena?”

“I didn't have a choice Oliver. No one can know my secret.”

They separated, but something a both the encounter made Oliver want to talk more with Helena about what had happened. He decided to go to her apartment so they could talk. She was just getting out of the shower when he got there.

“I'd ask how you got in, but the Hood comes and goes as he please.”

“How'd you know?”

“Your fighting style and then I saw your eyes.”

Oliver then tried to convince her that she was mistaking revenge for justice, but she insisted they were sometimes the same thing. She believed she and Oliver were the same and that his mission wasn't any more valid or right than hers was. He argued that they weren't the same, but she wouldn't listen.

Oliver believed he could get through to Helena, but not right now. She'd just learned the truth about her fiancé’s death. She'd killed someone she'd known for years, despite how unaffected she wanted to seem. Her emotions were too high to see reason right now.

“Will you let me show you a better way?” He asked her.

“Sure. Tomorrow.” She said, sounding sincere.

Believing her, he left. He brought John and Felicity up to date on the situation and told them he was handling it. They both seemed skeptical but didn't argue right away. Oliver knew he could make Helena see reason. His hopes were dashed the next day when Felicity told him Helena, or at least her cell phone, were in a part of town controlled by the triad. Knowing what her mission was, Oliver knew she hadn't gone there for innocent reasons.

With Felicity's help, he found her quickly and stopped her from killing a prominent triad member, kicking off a gang war. Helena was less than thrilled by this turn of events since her father didn't have the manpower to win a war like that. He'd died and she'd have her revenge. Oliver tired once again to try a different way, but she rejected his offer and told him to stay out of her way. It became clear that Helena only cared about her father’s death and not anything else, including e people who were going to end up caught in the crossfire of the gang war.

He went back to foundry to work out, and burn off some energy. He'd just finished his set of push-ups and was moving on to the salmon ladder when he heard footsteps. Turning, he saw Felicity standing there.

“Where's Megan?”

“Having a Niece-Aunt sleepover with Thea. They haven't had one of those in a few months.” She explained. “Which is good a because it means I can work without worrying about interruptions.”

“Work on what?”

“Helena’s not gonna stop until her father’s either dead or in prison. We both know which one she wants to happen, but who knows how many innocent people will die in the war she wants to start.” Felicity said taking a seat in front of the computers. “So, I'm gonna find some evidence or something that I can anonymously send to the SCPD and get him arrested.”

It didn't take long for Felicity to dig up something on Frank and she sent it to the police, who then shared that information with the FBI. Frank's arrest made the news the next morning. Oliver got an angry phone call from Helena soon after the story broke, demanding to see him. She wasn't happy her father had escaped justice in her eyes and warned Oliver to stay away from her or else she'd expose that he was the Hood.

Megan, who'd had a fun time at her sleepover with Thea, was just waking up and walking into the kitchen for breakfast when Oliver got back to the mansion. She told him all about the fun she and Thea had had and he listened with rapt attention. She was so excited that she knocked her cup of juice over and it spilled on Oliver's shirt. Not thinking, he took it off so he could throw it in the laundry.

“Daddy, why are you covered in boo-boos?” She asked.

“When I was on the island, I got hurt.” He answered simply, rushing to put the stained shirt back on. He didn't want anyone to see his scars and he definitely didn't want Megan to see them.

“Do they hurt? Do you want me to kiss them better? Mommy always kisses my boo-boos better.” She told him.

He wanted to tell her no, but she looked up at him with such big eyes, clearly wanting to help her dad feel better, so he relented. “I don't need you to kiss all of them better. How about this this one?”

He pointed to a very faint scar on his arm where he'd accidentally cut himself as a teenager. Megan kissed the scar with a loud smack of her lips before looking back at him. “Did I make it better?”

“Yes. You made it so much better.” He told her. “Thank you.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity talk about their relationship and a trip the zoo is a little more exciting than anyone would've guessed.

The day after Helena’s father had been arrested, Megan’s preschool was taking a trip to the zoo. Everyone in her family knew it because the preschooler was so excited to go see all of the animals that she mentioned it to anyone who would listen. She didn’t like the zoo quite as much as the aquarium, but that was just because, according to her, fish are the coolest animals because they get to spend all day in water.

She was bouncing up and down in excitement when Oliver dropped her off at school, telling her to listen to her teacher and have fun. He was looking forward to seeing his daughter after the trip so she could tell him all about the animals and which ones were her favorite. There was something about seeing Megan get so excited about the world that healed a part of Oliver whenever he got to see it.

 

While Megan was on her trip, Oliver was getting Verdant, the club he decided to open, ready for a final inspection. A night club gave him a good, and legitimate cover, for coming and going from his father’s old steel factory at odd times. Since clubs were open late, no one would think it was weird for Oliver to be coming home at 5am either. He finished up his meeting with the fire marshal, the building had to be evaluated to determine maximum capacity, and then went to visit Felicity at Queen Consolidated. Between his arrest, the mess with Helena and confronting his mother, Oliver hadn’t had time to discuss some other, more personal things with her. Like, what exactly was their relationship and what was she looking for from him now that she knew the truth.

Oliver knocked on the door of Felicity’s office so that he wouldn’t startle her. She turned and greeted him. “What brings you by?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“If its about what I did last night, I told you, the cops won’t be able to trace it back to me even if they wanted. I doubt they’d want to, since Bertinelli wasn’t exactly an upstanding citizen, but still.” She told him.

“That’s….not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about us. Something I’ve been putting off for a while.” He said. “We were- before I went missing, we were something. We never got around to deciding what. And I came back, and now we’re partners for you-know-what and we’re coparents to our daughter. And I’d like to be more than just a teammate or coparent.”

“You want us to be…like before?”

“Yes.” He said quickly. “Unless you don’t want to, which I would completely understand and-“

“No, I- I want that too.” She admitted.

* * *

 

**Starling 2007**

Ever since the day Felicity fixed Oliver’s computer, stopped by Queen Consolidated at least once a week to talk to her. At the beginning, he kept trying to convince her to go out with him, but when he saw that it wasn’t working, he used the time to get to know her.

He learned that she was terrified of kangaroos but loved pandas. He learned that her favorite color was red and that she didn’t really have a least favorite color, although she didn’t think she looked good in orange. While she’d gotten an internship in the IT department, her real goal was to work in applied sciences where she could use her brain to help people and make scientific breakthroughs. When he listened to her explain all of this, Oliver felt a little dumb. Felicity had a plan, she had goals she was working towards and knew exactly what she was doing with her life. Oliver was a four-time drop-out and didn’t usually think beyond the next party he was going to.

“What’s with the look?” Felicity asked him suddenly.

“Nothing, its just- you’ve got it all figured out and I kinda- I’ve got no idea what I’m gonna do with my life. I know what my parents want me to be doing but-”

“You’re what? 22? The fact that you don’t have it ‘all figured out’ isn’t that surprising.” She said. “You’ll figure it out. Before you know it, you’ll have a whole five year plan ready.”

“Yeah, sure.” He replied sarcastically. “So, its Thursday.”

“I know.”

“Which means tomorrow’s Friday and the weekend will be here.” He said in a knowing tone. “And my offer to hang out doesn’t have an expiration date. I don’t suppose you’re free?”

“As a matter of fact, I am.” She said, suddenly deciding to take Oliver up on his offer. “But just to be clear, we’re hanging out as friends. this isn’t a date.”

* * *

 

**Starling- Present**

After their talk was over, it was time to pick Megan up from preschool. The little girl babbled all about her class’s trip to the zoo and all the animals she’d seen. She seemed fidgety as Felicity drove back to the mansion. She told them there was something cool she found that she wanted to show everyone.

Felicity pulled up outside of Queen Mansion and Oliver got Megan unbuckled from her car seat. Their daughter dragged them inside and insisted they get Thea, Moira and Walter so everyone could see her surprise at the same time. Donna drove up behind them and came into the house.

The family gathered in the foyer and Megan put her backpack on the ground and opened it. She pulled out a stuffed tiger and put in on the ground. Felicity was about to comment on how lifelike the stuffed animals was when it blinked and started walking around. Thea and Moira both gasped and backed up into the wall. Donna let out a scream.

“Megan?” Felicity managed to ask with her voice only quivering a little bit.

“Yes Mommy?”

“Is that a tiger cub?”

“I found her at the zoo. Can I keep her?”

Felicity, for the first time in a long time, was speechless. How did Megan manage to take a tiger cub from the zoo without anyone noticing? More importantly, how bad was Starling Zoo’s security that a tiger cub was able to escape?

“Megan, honey, we can’t keep a tiger as a pet.” She turned to Oliver. “Call animal control.”

“Why not?” the little girl asked.

“Well, she’s just a baby. She needs to be with her mommy. Her mommy’s probably missing her already.” She answered. “How did you even find her? She was supposed to stay with the other tigers.”

“She was with the others, but then the Zoo man went to feed them and when he was working, she ran away through the door he used to get into where they lived. Ms. Ashley and the others went away, but I saw her and she looked lonely, so I took her with me.”

“You just put her in your backpack and left the zoo with her?”

“Yes. I wanted to give her a home.”

“I understand that, honey, but she already has a home. She has a mommy and a family that love her. And they miss her.”

“We can be her family.” The preschooler insisted.

“We could try, but I don’t know how to take care of tigers. I don’t think she’d be happy here.” Felicity said.

The tiger cub was well-behaved for a wild animal. She simply walked around sniffing and looking at things in the foyer, unaware of the conversation the humans were having. Animal control arrived fairly quickly, along with two zookeepers. They were able to tranquilize the feline fairly easily and got everything ready to take her back to the zoo. Megan was crying as her mother told her it was time for the cub to go home.

“Wait, can I say bye-bye?” Megan asked as one zookeeper was picking the cub up to go home.

“I don’t think that’s-“ he started to say, but then he saw that all of the adults in the room were glaring at him. “Yes, but we need to get her home. Her mother’s been worried about her.”

The tigress had been displaying a mix of depressive and aggressive behavior since the staff realized one of the cubs was missing. They hoped the sooner they recovered the cub, and the healthier it was, the sooner the other tigers would return to their normal behavior.

Megan bid the animal goodbye and watched as the zookeeper took her into a van to take her back to the zoo. The other zookeeper turned to face the family. “Someone will be contacting you tomorrow morning to discuss the consequences of….all of this.”

“Consequences?” Oliver asked.

“Your daughter stole a tiger cub from the zoo.”

“And your zoo’s security was so lax that a tiger cub was able to get out of its enclosure and a four-year-old was able to walk out of the facility with a live animal in her backpack. If anyone is at fault or liable here, its you.”

“She still-“

“She’s four and that cub is what, a month old? And they outsmarted you. How do you think that looks?” Donna said. “You need to rethink your security and not blame a preschooler for your mistakes.”

The zookeepers left with the tiger. Once they were gone, Megan asked if they could go back to the zoo the next weekend to say ‘hi’ to her friend. Oliver and Felicity both responded with ‘we’ll see’. Felicity got Megan into the car to drive home, and the girl asked if they could get a kitten, since she couldn’t keep the cub.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walter brings Felicity a mystery, the Queen family throws a party and the Dark Archer makes an appearance.

The day after the trip to the zoo, Megan went to preschool like normal. She was still very upset about not being allowed to keep the tiger cub and asked Felicity if they could get a kitten three times by the time she was dropped off. The teacher had somehow been informed about what had happened, so she asked the class to sit down on the carpet while she talked to them about how animals who lived at the zoo liked living there and that it was their home.

Megan pouted. The tiger cub seemed like it wanted to come with her. If it didn’t want her to take it home, why didn’t it run away from her when she found it? She asked the teacher, who didn’t seem to have an answer.

“Maybe it thought you’d help it get home. It was confused and scared.”

“I’m not scary. My mommy isn’t scary. She could’ve stayed with us!”

“You took a tiger home?” One of the students asked in awe.

“A baby tiger.” She confirmed. “I wanted her to be my pet, but my mommy and daddy said no and called the zoo man to take her back to her mommy.”

“It might be upsetting, but that was the right thing to do.” The teacher said, trying to regain control of the class. “The cub would’ve missed her mommy. How would you feel if someone tried to take you away from your mommy and daddy?”

“Sad. Scared.”

“That’s how the tiger felt.” The teacher said before clapping her hands together. “Now, who wants to d some arts and crafts?”

 

While Felicity was at work, the news broke that Adam Hunt, the Hood’s first victim, had been found dead in his office. The police didn’t come right out and say it, but because he was killed by arrows, they suspected the Hood. Felicity knew it wasn’t Oliver. For one thing, Oliver told her he only killed if he absolutely had to. For another, he spent the whole night dealing with the tiger situation and trying to calm Megan down after she wasn’t allowed to keep the animal. Clearly, this was the work of a copycat.

She was turning back to work when Walter knocked on the door of her office. “I was hoping to speak with you about something.”

“Sure.”

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small notebook. “I want to know everything you can find out about this book. Where it was made, where it was sold. Everything.”

“Is something wrong? It’s just- I’ve known you for five years and you’re kinda freaking me out a little bit.” Felicity confessed.

“It may be nothing, but I’d like to be sure.” He said. “Please let me know as soon as you find something.”

 

After the fiasco with the tiger, Oliver didn’t end up going to bed until nearly four AM. He woke up around 9 the next day and made his way downstairs. While he was eating his breakfast, he realized it was a few days into December and the mansion seemed shockingly devoid of Christmas decorations. His family loved Christmas, why weren’t there any lights or decorations up?

Thea was playing hooky from school, so he asked her. “You went missing, then you got declared dead. Neither of us were feeling very festive that year, so we just kinda ignored the holiday. Then, we did the same thing for the next four years.” She answered. “Felicity wanted us to try, for Megan, so last year Mom and I took Megan to see Santa and went to Felicity’s to have ‘Christmas dinner’ the night after Chanukah ended.”

“You stopped celebrating Christmas because of me?”

“We didn’t have a lot to celebrate. If you wanna decorate or celebrate, we aren’t gonna stop you.” She said before walking away.

That night, at dinner, Oliver confronted his family. He said he wanted to celebrate Christmas this year. He wanted Megan to get to have a Christmas like he did growing up. He pointed out that they stopped celebrating because he went missing and reasoned that his return should be the reason the resume celebrating. They couldn’t really argue without making it sound like his return wasn’t a good enough reason for them to do that. It was decided they’d have a holiday party the following Friday.

 

The next morning, Starling woke up to the news that another person the Hood had previously targeted was found dead. Oliver was once again being blamed. Based on what Felicity had found while monitoring the SCPD’s systems, not every cop thought the Hood was to blame. Detective Lance thought he was innocent, since the Hood got what he wanted from the two dead men months ago, and killing them now didn’t seem to serve any purpose. His voice of reason was being drowned out by officers who saw an easy explanation.

Oliver had reached out to Lance and somehow gotten ahold of one of the arrows used in the second murder. He was hoping Felicity would be able to track down where the arrows came from, or better yet, who bought them. She tracked the info quickly and Oliver went to visit the address they were shipped to.

While he was trying to clear his alter ego’s name, Felicity was delving into the mystery surrounding the notebook Walter gave her. It was bought along with about twenty others as a bulk order nine years ago. Nothing about the manufacturer seemed sketchy except for the fact that it was a subsidiary of Queen Consolidated. She kept digging, wondering why a blank notebook set Walter so on edge.

She started to come up with a theory. It was a long shot, and if it didn’t work, she’d blame the idea of seeing too many spy movies, but she wondered if maybe the pages weren’t blank, but the ink was just invisible. A few minutes with a UV and she got her answer. Writing appeared, and she realized it was a list of names. She called Walter and told him what she’d found.

A week later, Felicity had decoded more of the List and realized some of the people on the List were people Oliver had targeted as the Hood. And two of those people had been killed in the same week. She learned that one of the names still on the List was Doug Miller, the head of Applied Sciences. She told Walter about his name being in the notebook who said he’d subtly find out what Miller knew.

 

The Queen Family annual Christmas party was well underway. Megan was running around, enjoying herself and telling every adult who’d listen about what she asked Santa for and the presents she’d already gotten for Chanukah. The adults indulged her, thinking her excitement was cute.

She was looking for Felicity when she ran into someone’s leg. She looked up to see a tall man with dark hair. He asked her if she was okay and she nodded, but didn’t say anything. She had seen the man before, but she didn’t know who he was. He bent down to her level. "What's this behind your ear?" He asked, as he pulled a quarter out. "How did that get there?"

She giggled a little bit, but she still didn't the man, and she didn't know why. 

“Hey, Dad, I-“ Tommy said, walking over to the man.

“Uncle Tommy!” Megan shouted in excitement.

“Hi Megan.” He answered. “Where’s your mom and dad?”

“I dunno. I’m trying to find them.” She answered.

“Why don’t we go look together?” he offered.

“Okay.” She said, taking his hand. They walked away from Malcolm. “Who was that man?”’

“My dad.”

“I don’t like him. He’s scary.” She declared. Eventually, they found Felicity and Megan told her mother about everything that had happened in the half hour they were apart.

The party’s happy atmosphere was ruined an hour later, when some terrifying news broke. The archer who’d killed Adam Hunt and Nelson Ravich had taken five people hostage. He demanded that the Hood meet him in an hour or he’d start killing hostages.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver faces off against the Dark Archer.

Everyone at the Queens’ holiday party watched the news report in shock. The upper crust of Starling City had been assuming for days that the murders were the Hood, but now there was another archer running around the city, targeting innocent people? And this archer had taken people hostage to draw his rival, the Hood, out. The mood died quickly and the guests departed.

Thankfully, Megan was too distracted by the cookies Raisa made to see the news report, so she didn’t know what was going on, just that people were leaving and her mom wanted to take her home. She whined a little bit, but Felicity pulled out her no-nonsense face and the preschooler started saying goodbye. While she was saying goodbye to Thea and Moira, Felicity turned to Oliver.

“What’s your plan?”

“I’m gonna stop him.”

“That’s a goal, its not an actual plan.” She stated.

“Go in, get the hostages out. Find the Dark Archer and stop him.”

“Call me if- I don’t know how helpful I can be, but-“

“Hopefully it won’t come to that.” He said before Megan was ready to go.

Digg tried to convince Oliver not to get involved, thinking the police were a better option. He didn’t listen, suited up and headed out. When he got to the warehouse, the police were already there, but hadn’t been able to breach the building. The Dark Archer had booby-trapped all the exits, making it impossible to send in a SWAT team right away. They had to wait for the bomb squad.

Lance was yelling about how waiting was the worst idea he could think of, considering they only had fifteen minutes until the archer’s one-hour deadline was up when Oliver slid into the warehouse through a window. Once inside, he freed the hostages and led them up to the roof so that the police could get them to safety. He turned around and went to face the other archer.

Oliver went walking down a hallway in one of the lower parts of the building when he sensed someone stepping out from behind him.

“Thank you for coming. After the warehouse, I knew I’d need something dramatic to get your attention.” The masked man said. He had some kind of voice modulator, so the only thing Oliver knew was that the archer was male.

“What do you want with me?”

 “What any archer wants- to see who’s better.” He said as he fired an arrow at Oliver.

Oliver dodged it and fired his own arrow back in return. They moved deeper into the warehouse and continued to fight. Oliver and his opponent were evenly matched, but the other archer managed to get a lucky shot in while Oliver was jumping down from one of the rafters to retrieve his bow. The Archer then shot Oliver another time in the back. He fell to the ground and the man started kicking him in the ribs.

“I know about the list. The man who wrote it wants you dead.” Oliver stopped moving, so the Archer rolled him over and was about to remove his hood. “They call you the Hood. Let’s see what you look like without it.”

When his opponent bent down, Oliver jolted into action and stabbed a discarded arrow into the man’s leg before hitting him across the face. The other archer stumbled back and Oliver got up off the floor and somewhat painfully made his way out of the building. He called Digg for help before passing out.

 

Walter was leaving his office and getting into the elevator. He was on the phone with Moira, but told her they’d probably be cut off due to how bad the cell reception was. There was another man inside and Walter thought he looked rather familiar, but couldn’t place his face. The CEO hung up the phone as the doors closed. He felt a prick in his neck and the room started to spin. As he lost consciousness, it occurred to Walter that the other man worked for Merlyn Global Group.

 

Oliver bolted awake and squeezed his eyes shut when the room he was in was far too bright for him. He wasn’t sure where he was, but this definitely wasn’t the foundry. He tried to sit up, but his whole body hurt.

“Hey, relax. Relax, you’re safe. You’re in the hospital.” Digg said, noticing he was awake.

“What happened?”

“Felicity back-traced your signal. I cleaned you up and got you out of there.”  He said. “You’ve got a pneumothorax, three broken ribs and a concussion, but the doctor said you’re gonna be fine. Some people are here to see you.”

He stepped away and Moira, Thea, Felicity and Tommy came into the room. Moira and Thea started fussing over Oliver, who looked at them in confusion since he didn’t know what cover story Digg had given them.

“Did they find the driver who hit him yet?” Tommy asked.

“He didn’t hit Oliver. Oliver just had to swerve to avoid him and, on his bike, - Let’s just be glad all that happened was Oliver crashing his bike. And that he was wearing a helmet.” Felicity said.

“Where’s- is Megan here?” Oliver asked.

“No, Raisa’s watching her. I didn’t- she was asleep when Mr. Diggle called me and I didn’t want to wake her up and bring her here and worry her.” She said. “And I wasn’t sure what shape you were gonna be in-.”

He nodded. Moira and Thea both apologized for their behavior at the party before leaving to go home. Felicity stayed behind to talk to Oliver, knowing that they needed to discuss what happened with the other archer.

“You know, when I confront someone on the list, I tell them that they failed the city. Tonight, it was me who failed.”

“Oliver, five people are alive and home with their families, enjoying the holidays because of you.” Felicity pointed out.

“The other archer-.”

“He’ll get his.” Digg said. “You’ll give it to him.”

“That’s not our biggest problem.” Oliver admitted. “The other archer told me somebody compiled the list. I always thought it was my father. What if it wasn’t?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I think there’s someone else out there. Someone who’s a bigger threat than the archer.” Oliver said after a moment of silence.

“When you say list, do you mean like a list of names?” Felicity asked. “Ones written in invisible ink in a small beige notebook with a weird symbol inside of it?”

“Yes. How do you know that?” Oliver admitted to being the Hood, but he hadn’t told Felicity exactly how he chose people to target, just that he had a system.

“Walter- a few days ago he brought me a notebook like the one I just described. He seemed freaked out about it and wanted to know everything I could find out about it. I told him I uncovered the list of names and-.”

“Do you still have it?”

“Did you tell him any of the names?”

“Yeah, I still have it. And I told him about the two dead guys, and also someone from Queen Consolidated whose name was on the list.” She admitted. “What if what I told him gets him killed?”

“I doubt that’s gonna happen, but I’ll talk to him when I get discharged.”

 

Oliver had to spend the night under observation, much to his annoyance. John came in early the next day and told him Walter hadn’t returned from his office last night. Oliver hoped that it wasn’t related to the list or the Dark Archer, but wasn’t very hopeful. When he was about to be released, Felicity visited with Megan. She saw that her dad was all banged up and ran over to hug him.

“I think you’re squeezing Daddy too tight. He has boo-boos remember?” Felicity said.

Megan loosened her grip a little bit. “Sorry Daddy.”

“It’s okay.”

“Why do you have boo-boos?”

“I was being silly and I fell off of my bike.” He said, going with the cover story Digg had concocted.

“Maybe you should get training wheels.” The preschooler suggested, which made Felicity and John burst out laughing.

“That’s a good idea.” Felicity said after she had collected herself. “C’mon, let’s drive Daddy back to the Grandma’s house.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Digg said, “not with his injuries.” His concerns were valid, but they weren’t the reason he decided to speak up.

“What?”

“Between his collapsed lung and broken ribs, going up and down stairs several times a day isn’t good for him.”

“Daddy can stay with us!” Megan exclaimed. “We only have stairs except on the outside.”

Neither of her parents could really argue, and they didn’t want to ruin here enthusiasm, so Oliver left the hospital and rode to Felicity’s house with Megan. If he wasn’t excited to spend more time with his daughter, he might’ve tried to swipe the smirk off of John’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a head's up, there won't be a chapter next week due to boring, real life stuff.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver gets to spend some time with his daughter, he and Felicity discuss their relationship, and we see how Oliver and Felicity become 'something' in the past.

Felicity and Oliver got him settled into her house. Thankfully, Felicity had a guest bedroom Oliver could use rather than one of them needing to sleep on the couch or, more awkwardly, sharing a bed. Digg stopped by shortly after they got home with a suitcase Thea had packed for Oliver.

Megan was very excited that her dad was staying with her and Felicity, so it took both parents awhile to get her calmed down and convince her that she needed to use her inside voice.

“But Daddy’s here!” The preschooler said in self-defense.

“I know, sweetie, but he’s tired from when he hurt himself. It’s okay that you’re excited, but Daddy needs to rest right now. Okay?” Felicity said. “You can play with Daddy, but I don’t want it to be too loud. And he can’t carry you around or chase after you.”

“Ok. Can we watch cartoons?”

“I think watching cartoons will help me feel better.” Oliver spoke up. “What are we gonna watch?”

“Dinosaur Train!” Megan declared, handing him the remote. “Mommy says I need a grown-up to turn the TV on.”

Oliver furrowed his brow and looked over to Felicity. “She tried to turn it on by herself when the batteries were dead. She thought unplugging it would work and almost stuck her fingers in the socket. Megan can use the remote, but a grown-up has to turn the TV on and off.” Megan was a smart girl, but she was only four after all. “There’s a few things I need to take care of. I’ll be in my office, so yell if you need me.”

Oliver got settled on the couch and turned the TV on. Megan directed him to where to find Dinosaur Train and they started watching. Watching a kid’s show was surreal for him, but Megan seemed to be happy. He got surprisingly engrossed in the show after a few minutes and asked Megan who all the characters were. She was excited that she knew something her dad didn’t know and got to explain it to him.

As one episode ended and another started, Megan leaned over so that she was laying against Oliver’s shoulder. “I’m happy you’re staying here, Daddy.”

“Me too.” He told her. He wasn’t happy about what happened with the Dark Archer, Walter’s disappearance, the knowledge of the list and several other things, but he was looking forward to spending more time with Megan and Felicity while he recovered.

“Are you and Mommy gonna start kissing now?” she asked him.

“Why do you ask that?”

“Because you like Mommy and Mommy likes you. And Auntie Thea told me when grown-ups like each other, they kiss.”

“Auntie Thea shouldn’t be telling you things like that. You’re too young.” Oliver remarked. “I don’t know. I need to talk to Mommy first. I need to make sure that she wants to kiss me too.”

Felicity finished the last few things she needed to do and came back into the living room. She wasn’t happy that Oliver was hurt, but she was happy there was someone who could keep an eye on Megan while she wrapped the last few presents she needed to wrap and start some searches for Walter. Plus, any time she got to see Oliver interact with Megan, it melted her heart.

The preschooler saw her mom come into the room and ran over to her. “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!”

“Megan! Megan! Megan!” She responded. “Dinosaur Train got you this excited?”

“No. Are you and Daddy gonna kiss?”

Felicity froze and looked at Oliver who shrugged. “Why are you asking, sweetie?”

“Ally’s mommy and daddy kiss. And they live in the same place.” She said. “And now you and Daddy live in the same place.”

Felicity’s expression turned into a sad smile. Megan had spent years wondering why she didn’t have a dad. Now, she had one, but she didn’t understand why her mom and dad weren’t like her friends’ parents. Felicity had felt the same way after her father left.

“And you wanna know why me and Daddy aren’t like Ally’s parents.” She said, and Megan nodded. “Sometimes, being a grown-up isn’t easy. I like Daddy and he likes me, but there are some things we need to talk about. But there’s one thing we definitely, 100% agree on.”

“What’s that?”

“That we love you.” She said, hugging her daughter.

“I love you too, Mommy.” Megan let go of Felicity and went over to Oliver. “And I love you, Daddy.”

Oliver returned the hug. “I love you so much.”

Megan announced that she didn’t want to watch cartoons anymore and asked Felicity for paper and some crayons so she could color. Oliver turned off the TV while Felicity got the art supplies. The four-year-old started doodling, giving Oliver and Felicity a chance to talk.

“So….about what Megan just asked.” Oliver started.

“Well, you said you wanted us to get back together. So did I. Then, things kinda got sidetracked when you were being framed and- we agreed but then we never talked about it. And now that you’re staying here….. I thought it might come up.” Felicity said. “We’re together. right?”

“Yeah, we are. But this is- it’s new territory for me. And I don’t want things to move too fast.” He admitted. “We never- I feel like we do things in the wrong order. We were friends, then we jumped right into being together, then I was dead, then we became co-parents and now we’re dating.”

“I was never a big fan of tradition anyways.” She said with a chuckle.

“That’s what I liked about you.” He said, giving her a quick kiss.

* * *

 

**2007**

Felicity walked into the club where Oliver asked to meet her. After weeks of him asking her to hang out, she finally relented. Clubs weren’t usually her scene, but she decided to give it a try. She knew she looked out of place in her jeans and flowy top, surrounded by women wearing dresses than were incredibly short and tight. Worse case scenario, she’d get bored and could take a taxi back to where she was staying. She started looking around for Oliver when she suddenly found herself face-to-face with him.

“Hey, you made it.”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I said I’d come. I keep my promises.”

“I wasn’t- I didn’t mean it like that. it’s just- you didn’t seem super excited about coming.” He said.

“Clubs…aren’t really my thing.” She admitted.

“Then let’s get out of here.” He suggested. “I wanted us to hang out. We don’t have to do that here.”

“Ok.” She said, letting out a sigh of relief.

They wound up at a bowling alley, where Felicity kicked Oliver’s butt in three straight games. The place closed at 2AM and they needed to leave.

“That was fun.”

“Yeah, it was.” Oliver agreed. “Wanna hang out again next week?”

“Won’t your…friends at the club miss you? Or your girlfriend?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” He said quickly. “And the club is fine, but I like hanging out with you. But no bowling next time. I can only take losing so many times in a row.”

They hung out the next week, and the week after that. it soon became a habit where every Friday night, Oliver and Felicity would hang out. They grew closer during those few weeks.

One week, Oliver and Felicity met at a pool hall. He lost the first game to her before suggesting they play darts, which he was somewhat good at. After winning one round, they started ordering drinks. Two rounds later, Felicity decided it was time to go. They took a taxi to Felicity’s apartment and he walked her to her door. She invited him in for some coffee.

A cup of coffee turned into them talking for a few hours. Talking led to her kissing him. Kissing led to them having sex. The next morning, they both woke up and remembered what had happened. Oliver admitted that he had feelings for Felicity but didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable. Her internship was ending in December, she didn’t know where she’d end up afterwards. They decided not to put a label on anything and just figure things out as they go.

Four weeks later, Felicity was sitting in her bathroom, staring at a positive pregnancy test. She was going to call Oliver, but saw that he had texted her. He was leaving with his father on a trip to China in an hour and wanted to say goodbye. She dialed his number.

“Hey, are you feeling better?” He asked when he answered the phone.

“Yeah. Sorry I missed you. The salty air didn’t seem like a good idea.”

“Is everything okay? Your voice sounds weird.”

“I’m fine. I just- have a nice trip.” She told him before saying goodbye. Oliver would be back in two weeks. She could tell him about the baby then.

She planned out exactly how she was going to tell him, but she never got the chance to. Oliver Queen never made it back to Starling.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megan adjusts to Oliver being around all the time and pancakes are eaten.

The next morning, Oliver was fast asleep when Megan snuck into his room. it was Saturday, and Saturdays meant Felicity made pancakes and she didn’t want her dad to miss out. She jumped on his bed, which startled him awake. He sat up, let out a growl and looked around for the threat.

He expected a blow to come at his face, but nothing happened. The jungle habitat of Lian Yu gave way to the soft blue walls of Felicity’s guest room.

“Daddy?” Megan asked.

Hearing her voice snapped Oliver out of survival mode and he calmed his breathing. He saw that Megan was sitting on the bed, looking at him with a scared expression.

“Are you okay?” She tried to wake him up and he could’ve attacked her. He almost hurt his daughter. What kind of parent did that?

“You started growling at me.” She said. “Why did you do that?”

“What’s going on in here?” Felicity asked, coming into the room.

“I came to get Daddy for pancakes and he made a really mean face and it scared me.” The preschooler said.

“I’m so sorry, Megan.” He said before looking at Felicity. “It was an accident.”

“Megan, was Daddy awake or asleep when you came in?”

“Asleep. I was gonna wake him up.” she said.

“Okay. Come here.” Felicity said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Megan went to sit next to her mom. “Oliver, you come over here too.” He slowly moved over so that he was on Megan’s other side, but not too close to her. “He didn’t mean to scare you. I think we should let him explain what happened.”

“You know how I have boo-boos from the island?” He asked his daughter, who nodded. “Well, sometimes I get bad dreams about them. And when I get surprised, I think someone’s trying to hurt me, and I wanna stop them, which is why I made that mean face.”

“But I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

“I know that, sweetie, but when you jumped on the bed, I didn’t know it was you, I thought it was someone else.” He explained. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry I woke you up, Daddy.” She said, hugging him. “Mommy should get you a nightlight.”

“What?”

“If you have bad dreams, Mommy should get you a nightlight. She got me one so that I wouldn’t have bad dreams.” Megan said, matter-of-factly. “Or maybe you just need someone to sleep with. Do you wanna borrow Mr. Buttons?” Mr. Buttons was Megan’s teddy bear.

“Thank you, Megan, but I don’t wanna take him away from you. I’ll be okay.” Oliver told her.

“You can sleep with Mommy.” She suggested.

“What?”

“If you have a bad dream, you can sleep in Mommy’s bed. She always lets me do that.” she explained.

“Uh, I-.”

“How about we try not to startle anyone anymore okay?” Felicity suggested. “Now, let’s go eat pancakes!”

Megan jumped off the bed and ran off, leaving Oliver and Felicity alone. “I’ll be gone by tonight.”

“What are you talking about?” She asked.

“I scared Megan. I could’ve hurt her. I understand if you don’t want me to be around her or living here-.”

“Oliver, it was an accident. She startled you and you had a flashback or your instincts took over, or whatever you wanna call it.” Felicity said. “I can’t hold an accident against you, and now she knows not to startle you.” She stood up. “Let’s go before Megan eats all of the pancakes.”

“She’s four years old.”

“And she’s basically the Cookie Monster when it comes to pancakes.” Felicity told him.

They walked into the kitchen where Megan was already seated at the table. She’d gotten the bottle of syrup and started pouring it onto her pancakes. Felicity, remembering the last time Megan did her own syrup pouring, rushed over to stop her.

“Hey, hey, hey. Why don’t I do that?” She asked.

“But I can pour it!” Megan said.

“And last time, you poured it all over the table, remember?” Last time, Felicity had gotten up to get more coffee and by the time she sat back down, Megan’s pancake, and the table, were soaked in maple syrup. It was a disaster to clean up.

“It was an accident.” Megan insisted.

“I know, but I don’t want it to happen again.” She said as she handed Megan her plate. “Plain or blueberry, Oliver?”

“What?” He asked, suddenly tuning back into the conversation.

“Do you want a plain pancake or blueberry?” She repeated, gesturing to the two different stacks of pancakes. “You can sit down, you know.”

Oliver sat down and took a blueberry pancake off of its stack. He drizzled a little bit of syrup and started eating. While they ate, Megan told her parents all about what she wanted to do today. A few of her suggestions, like making a snowman, weren’t feasible, but some of them Felicity said they could do, like coloring and going to the park. The whole scene struck Oliver as very domestic and he was a little afraid this was a dream.

“Do you like them?” Megan asked. “I love Mommy’s pancakes.”

“Me too.” Oliver agreed. “Especially the blueberry ones.”

“I wish we could have chocolate chip.”

“I don’t think you need any more sugar this early in the morning.” Felicity said. Soon enough, the pancakes were all eaten and Felicity told her daughter to go get dressed so they could go to the park. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I know you’re a little banged up.”

“There’s benches and stuff at the park, right?” Oliver asked and he received a nod in return. “Then, yeah, I’ll come.”

“There’s something I wanna know, but you don’t need to go into detail. Did she just startle you or were you also having a nightmare?” Felicity asked after several moments.

“More of a memory.” Oliver had been reliving the day on the island when Billy Wintergreen and Fyers tortured him. “I’m gonna start locking the door from now on.”

“You don’t have to, but if you feel like you should, I won’t stop you.” Felicity said.

Their daughter ran back into the room. “Why are you still in your PJs? We need to go to the park!”

“The park isn’t going to get up and walk away." Felicity teased as she stood up.

“It could!” Megan insisted.

Felicity and Oliver both changed and the small family left for the park.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver, Felicity and Megan enjoy some time at the park, while Felicity remembers telling his family about the baby,

As soon as Felicity, Oliver and Megan made it to the park, Megan took off running towards the playground. The park was nice and all, but the playground was better than the one at preschool and Megan liked going there.

Oliver and Felicity sat down on a bench where they could see Megan playing without making it seem like they were hovering. They watched her run around the playground excitedly.

“If only we could bottle that.”

“What?” Oliver asked.

“If we could somehow bottle the limitless energy Megan has, I could get so much done.” Felicity elaborated. “How are kids this energetic?”

“I think it might have something to do with the amount of syrup you put on her pancakes this morning. Syrup’s basically sugar.”

“Ah, you’re probably right.”

They watched in silence as Megan played on the jungle gym. She coming down the slide when she let out a squeal of excitement and ran over to another kid that arrived at the playground. She hugged the boy and yelled for him to come play with her. Oliver saw that the boy was Megan’s friend Billy from preschool and started grimacing.

“What’s with the face.?”

“I don’t like that kid.”

“Why? He’s four.”

“He’s flirting with our daughter.” He defended.

“Oliver, Megan is four. They don’t know what flirting is. He’s her friend and its cute. Please don’t make it more than it is.”

“It’s cute now, but I was once that kid. Four-year-olds grow up.”

“You’re kinda paranoid.” Felicity said. “And you aren’t so bad.”

“I was back then. I was a drunken mess who didn’t care how my actions affected anyone. I mean, you were pregnant, we were kinda together and I got on the Gambit with Sara. You can’t tell me that didn’t upset you.”

“I never said it didn’t, but when push came to shove, I didn’t really have the right to be angry. Or at least, I didn’t think I did. We weren’t exclusive, we never talked about being exclusive. You also didn’t know I was pregnant, so its not like I told you and you said ‘that’s nice, I’m gonna go on a sex cruise with Sara’. You were an adult and could do whatever you wanted.” She said. “Then, I had bigger things to worry about.”

* * *

 

**Starling 2007**

Two weeks after Oliver and Robert left for China and the Queen’s Gambit lost contact with anyone on the mainland, the Coast Guard called off the search for the Gambit. A week after that, Oliver and his father were declared dead.

Felicity was now eight weeks pregnant and she knew it was time for her to talk to Oliver’s family about what was going on. She drove to Queen Mansion and told the maid who answered the door that she needed to speak with Moira immediately. She was shown to a sitting room and asked to wait.

“Eliza said you wanted to speak with me.” Moira said walking into the room.

“Yes, there’s something I needed to tell Oliver, but I didn’t get a chance to. With him- I can’t tell him, but I feel like you should know.” She said. “I’m eight weeks pregnant and the baby’s Oliver’s.”

“How dare you?”

“What?”

“My son is dead. His funeral is tomorrow and you come here, claiming to be pregnant with his child in an attempt to get money out of me. I can’t believe anyone would sink this low.” Moira said. “You can see yourself out and stay away from my family.”

“No.”

“What did you just say?”

“I said ‘no’. I don’t want your money.”

Moira levelled a disbelieving look at Felicity. “If you aren’t after money, why are you here?”

“Because Oliver is gone and I thought maybe his family would wanna be in his child’s life. Guess I was wrong.” She said, standing up.

Seeing she was about to leave, Moira changed her tactic. “Two million that’s my offer.”

“What?”

“Two million dollars. Leave Starling, don’t tell anyone about who your baby’s father is.”

“I don’t want your money. I want you to be a part of this baby’s life, to tell him or her all about Oliver since he’s gone.” Felicity said. “But since you want nothing to do with me or this baby, I guess I’ll go.”

“You’re having a baby?” A voice said from the doorway. Felicity turned and saw a brunette preteen standing there. “Ollie was gonna be a dad?”

“Yeah, he was.”

“Thea, you should go upstairs.”

“Why? So you can make her leave? That baby is the last piece of Ollie that we have.” Thea argued.

“It’s okay. Telling you this the day before the funeral probably wasn’t the best idea.” Felicity took out a piece of paper and handed it to Thea. “That’s my number. If you wanna talk, text me. I’ll see you around.”

“You’re coming tomorrow, right?” Thea asked. “To the funeral.”

“I was planning to, unless your mother would prefer I didn’t.” Felicity answered pointedly.

“Of course you’re welcome to come.” Moira said.

Felicity left the mansion and drove home. After she left, Moira made a call. Still suspicious of Felicity. she wanted to find out everything she could about her.

The next day, Felicity arrived at Oliver and Robert’s memorial service and Thea immediately ran up to her. Her plan had been to sit in the back of the crowd, but the 12-year-old insisted that she sit up front with her and Moira. It was awkward to say the least.

Suddenly, someone took a seat on her other side. “Hey, I’m Tommy.”

“Felicity.”

“So, what are you doing after this?” He asked.

“Are you seriously hitting on me at your best friend’s funeral?” She asked angrily.

“I’m in mourning, you’re in mourning. Let’s mourn together.”

“Thanks, but no. Maybe one of them,” she pointed to a group of women dressed in tight black dresses, completely inappropriate for a funeral, standing off to the side, “will take you up on that.”

* * *

 

**Starling City- Present**

After about an hour at the park, Felicity decided it was time to go home. She stood up to get Megan, who was still playing with Billy, but Oliver stopped her, saying he’d do it. Megan and her friend were playing Tag, or some variation of it, but they both stopped when Oliver cleared his throat.

“You’re really tall.” Billy remarked when he saw Oliver. “Who are you?”

 “My name’s Mr. Queen. I’m Megan’s father.” He told him. “What are your intentions towards my daughter?”

“I’m four. I don’t know what that means.” The little boy said.

“It means-.”

“Daddy! Are you gonna play with us?” Megan interrupted.

“No, Mommy told me to get you. It’s time to go home.”

“But I don’t wanna!”

“Megan, we need to go home now. Say goodbye to your friend.” He told her.

The preschooler seemed to realize this was a losing battle and gave up. “Bye Billy!”

“Bye Megan, bye Megan’s daddy!” The little boy responded before running off to find his parents.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver has some trouble getting back into the field after facing the Dark Archer.

The six weeks following Oliver’s confrontation with the Dark Archer went pretty much the same. He played with Megan. His relationship with Felicity continued to grow. He used any spare time he had available to go to the foundry and train. He lost against the Dark Archer. Next time he needed to be ready. He needed to be better, to be faster, to be stronger. He trained and trained but, even after his injuries healed, he didn’t go out as the Hood.

To make matters worse, no sign of Walter had been found. He was last seen at Queen Consolidated, but there was no footage of him leaving the building. There hadn’t been any attempts to contact his family about a ransom. No one wanted to say it, but they were pretty sure Walter had been killed, but his body simply hadn’t been found yet.

Oliver not suiting up led to an increase in crime, especially in the Glades. The Hood was MIA, so the criminals of Starling didn’t have anything to be afraid of anymore. When the news report about Starling’s crime being on the rise ended, Felicity muted the TV.

“Are you telling me you’re really okay with this?” She asked.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Then you realize you should get back to crossing names off of The List.”

“Mom and Thea are both inconsolable. I think they should be my priority right now.” He told her.

“We know Walter knew about the List. I think he might’ve tried to warn someone on it. Has it occurred to you that looking into the List might lead you to finding out what happened to him?”

He didn’t respond to that and Felicity scoffed and unmuted the TV. She and Oliver both knew he needed to suit back up and head out as the Hood. He was using Walter’s disappearance and his family’s worry as an excuse to avoid it, and she’d get to the bottom of that excuse sooner or later.

 

Across town, the fire department was trying to contain a blaze in an apartment building. One firefighter managed to put out the part of the fire right in front of him and turned to lend a hand to one of his brothers. The closest man to him turned and sprayed him with some kind of chemical. Seconds later, he went up in flames.

The next day, Detective Lance and the Fire chief showed up at CNRI to tell Joanna, Laurel’s friend, that her brother had been killed in the line of duty. Distraught, she started looking into the fire and realized how Danny died didn’t match with the circumstances of the fire he was fighting. He wasn’t the first fireman who’d died like Danny had either. Laurel brought the evidence to her father, who told her to let the fire department handle it. Instead, she stole the phone the Hood had given him and contacted the vigilante herself, informing him she thought Danny had been murdered. He told her he’d look into it.

“Does that mean you’re going back out?” Felicity asked.

“No. I’m gonna ask John to look into Danny and alert the police about anything he finds.” When Oliver called Digg to tell him, Digg tried to convince him it was time for the Hood to get back to work. Oliver told him no.

Digg was able to find a connection between all of the mysterious deaths. The same pick-up truck was in the area during all three fires where a firefighter died. Felicity used the information to track down the truck that was near the scene of a fire currently burning. Despite his reservations, Oliver suited up and went to stop the killer.

He arrived too late to stop another murder. He made it to the location as the killer threw a firefighter into the blaze. Oliver was able to see the killer had a tattoo of some kind on his wrist before fleeing the scene. He called Laurel later, as the Hood, and told her what car the killer drove and about his tattoo.

“You’re really gonna let her deal with this guy by herself?” Felicity and John both asked when he ended the call.

“She’s smart, she won’t go running headfirst into danger.”

“She’s also incredibly driven.” Felicity argued. “Best case scenario, she gets the answers she wants from the fire chief and they figure out who this guy is. What happens if that doesn’t work out? If they stonewall her? She might do something reckless to bring this guy to justice.”

“Do you wanna explain why you’ve apparently given up on your mission and saving the city?” John asked him later, after Felicity had gone home to take care of Megan.

“The Dark Archer almost killed me. On the island, I didn’t care if I died because I had nothing to lose. I was stranded. There was next to no chance I’d make it home. Now, it’s different. Thea and my mom just got me back. I have a four-year old daughter and girlfriend. What happens to them if I die?”

“You have something to live for. If anything, I’d think that would make you stronger, fight harder. It gives you an edge.”

Laurel had gone to the police chief to ask about the fire house dubbed the ‘Fireflies’ and hit a dead end. One of their own, Garfield Lynns, had died battling a fire two years ago, but there was no way he could’ve survived and the chief didn’t want to answer any questions about it. She called the Hood and told him she was out of options. He said he’d take over from there.

Tommy had convinced Oliver to hold a benefit for the fire department at Verdant. The department had lost some funding over the last few years and always appreciated donations. Some were frustrated it took four firefighters dying for the city to start caring about them. During the event, Oliver was able to talk to the fire chief. He asked him about the Noddel fire that Lynns supposedly died fighting, claiming he heard about it on the news. The chief was just beginning to explain what happened when Felicity started to smell smoke.

It soon became clear that Lynns was there and he’d set the club on fire. She yelled ‘fire’ at the top of her lungs and everyone started running out of the building. Lynns moved closer to the chief and covered him in the accelerant. Oliver ran off while this was happening, going to the foundry to change into his hood.

“I told you that we could save the building, but you got scared. You lost your nerve. You left me in there to die.” Lynns told the chief.

“How did you get out?”

“I was pulled from the wreckage. Listed as John Doe in the burn unit. In a coma for months. When I woke up and saw what was left of who I was, I only had one thought.” He pulled out a lighter and lit it, tossing it towards the chief.

Oliver shot an arrow, which knocked it onto the floor. “Go!” He yelled at the terrified chief. “It’s over.”

“I’m not afraid to die.”

“I know. You’re afraid to live. Let me get you out of here. Let me get you help.”

“Thanks, but I’m already burned.” Lynns said before walking into the flames.

The Hood’s heroics were all of the news the next day. Megan was excited since the Hood was her hero. As she told her parents, the Hood was ‘her favoritest hero other than Mommy and Daddy’. They chuckled at that and she got angry.

“It’s not funny! I wanna be just like him when I grow up!”

“I thought you wanted to be just like Mommy?” Oliver asked. He was glad she saw him as a hero, but didn’t want to think about his daughter becoming a vigilante.

“I do, but I also wanna be like him.” She said.

Megan went to preschool. Felicity went to work. Oliver went to Verdant to work out. When Digg arrived, he told him they were getting back to working on the List.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea's 18th birthday comes and in the past, Felicity meets someone who doesn't make the best impression.

Two weeks after Oliver went back to working on the List, all anyone in the Queen family could talk about was Thea’s 18th birthday. She’d been dropping hints to everyone for a month about exactly which car she wanted and what color and every other little detail. She wasn’t very subtle, but then again, she didn’t have a reason to be. Moira would get her exactly what she wanted and no one expected things to go any differently.

“What are you gonna get her?” Felicity asked Oliver when she was getting ready for work one day.

Even though he was completely healed, Oliver was still living with Felicity and Megan. The press had caught wind of this as well and the rumor mill started back up about Oliver and Felicity getting back together and what that meant for the decades-long Oliver Queen-Laurel Lance saga. The paparazzi loved love triangles after all, even though Laurel was dating Tommy and Oliver hadn’t been unclear about who he wanted. Her party was happing tonight and she knew he hadn’t gotten a gift yet.

“I don’t know to be honest. Every time I think of an idea, I realize I’m thinking about the 12 year old version of Thea and not who she is now.” He admitted. “I don’t even really know who she is.”

“Yes, you do. You missed a few years, but she’s still your sister.” Felicity assured him. “And I do know her, so I might be able to help on that front. What ideas did you have?”

While Megan played, Oliver bounced his idea for presents off of Felicity. She shot some of them down, but said others had potential. After he’d narrowed his ideas down, he changed the subject.

“I know how my mom reacted. I know how Thea reacted. You haven’t really told me what Laurel’s response to us or your pregnancy was.” He said. It hadn’t escaped his notice that Tommy was ‘Uncle Tommy’ but Laurel was only ‘Ms. Laurel’ to Megan. He’d need to be blind not to see the awkwardness that ensued whenever Felicity and Laurel were in the same room. Clearly, something had happened.

“Does it matter anymore?” She asked. “It was five years ago. She’d just lost her sister. She was angry and in pain. A lot of what happened was a ‘heat of the moment’ type reaction.”

“The fact that you won’t tell me is why I’m asking.” He responded. “It makes me think things go ugly.”

“They almost did.”

* * *

 

**Starling 2007**

After Felicity met Tommy, and he tried to hit on her, no one else approached her. She could tell many people were curious about who she was and why she was there, but no one tried to talk to her. A priest then arrived and the funeral began. For the entire service, Felicity could feel eyes on her. She tried to ignore the sensation and focused on the priest’s words and Thea’s hand holding hers. The officiant said the final blessing and the funeral ended. People started milling about. Thea stood up to greet the attendants with her mother, leaving Felicity alone.

She was still in her seat, looking at the headstone, when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around to see a brunette woman standing there with an angry look on her face. She recognized her as Laurel Lance, who she’d seen on tabloid covers.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?”

“My name’s Felicity.”

“Ok, and what are you doing here? Why are you sitting with Ollie’s family?”

“His sister insisted and I wanted to say goodbye to him.”

“Why? He killed my sister.”

“They were killed in a boating accident, and regardless of what he did, Thea still lost her brother and her father. Today isn’t the day to tell her how horrible you think he is.” She said.

Laurel paused. “You’re her aren’t you? The girl he’d been seeing before his trip. The one he was cheating on me with.”

“He wasn’t cheating on you. You two had broken up. And we weren’t together.” Felicity said.

“Sure you weren’t. You’re just sitting there, with his family, because Thea asked you too. Whatever he said to you, whatever he told you, it wasn’t real. He was a liar. He’d say anything to get what he wanted.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m gonna go check on Thea.” Felicity said, standing up.

The crowd slowly moved inside for the wake and the guests broke off into groups to eat and talk. Felicity avoided getting into conversations with most of the guests, and if she was asked how she knew the family, she’d just answer by saying she was a friend of Oliver’s.

Laurel was leaving the bathroom after freshening up when she heard voices coming from another room. Curious, she moved closer to the door to listen in.

“And you’re sure you’re okay?” Thea asked.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Felicity answered. “Oliver was…important to me, but he was your brother.”

“I think I’ve cried all I can.” She responded. “And you aren’t just taking care of yourself anymore.”

“I know.”

“He would’ve been happy, you know that right?” Thea said. “I mean, the idea of being a dad would’ve terrified him, but he would’ve been so excited.”

Having heard that Felicity was pregnant, and Oliver was the father, Laurel burst into the room. “You lying homewrecker!”

“You two weren’t together. I didn’t wreck anything.” Felicity said.

“Oh, you didn’t?” She yelled. “You slept with my boyfriend and got yourself knocked up. What was your plan? To trap him? How do you even know it’s his?”

Laurel said that, and Felicity saw red. She walked over to Laurel and, without saying a word, slapped her across the face. She wasn’t a violent person by nature, but she didn’t like what the law student was implying.

“How dare-?”

“No, my turn to talk. You don’t get to do this. I let what happened outside slide because you lost your sister, but that was your one freebie. You don’t get to lambast Oliver at his own funeral. You don’t get to insult me because you and Oliver broke up. You don’t get to call me a golddigger or homewrecker when you don’t even know me nor know what happened between Oliver and I.” Felicity said. “Thea lost her father and her brother. Moira lost her son and her husband. My child lost his or her father. You aren’t the only one in pain. You aren’t the only one grieving. And your grief isn’t more important that someone else’s. If you can’t be civil, you shouldn’t be here.”

“She has a point.” Thea said.

Laurel threw Felicity one last dirty look before storming out.

* * *

 

**Starling Present**

Thea’s party was in full swing. She’d gotten the exact convertible she wanted and faked surprise when Moira handed her the keys. She said something about taking it out for a test drive, but decided not to right away. A group of her friends followed her outside to admire the car. They came back inside and split up. Oliver saw his sister sneak upstairs with a boy and followed them.

He found them in her room before anything could happen and told the boy to leave. Thea was angry and embarrassed about his actions and stormed out. She yelled that she wanted to take her new car for a test drive. Felicity advised him to let her go cool off before talking to her. A few moments later, they heard a crash and ran outside. Thea had crashed her new car into a tree. The police were called, Thea was taken to the hospital where they did a blood test. The doctors found drugs in her system and arrested her.

“This can’t be happening.” Felicity told Oliver when he told her the news. “The test has to be wrong.”

“Well, Thea’s a girl with little supervision and more money than she knows what to do with.” He pointed out. He was sad that his sister seemed to be falling into the same behavior that he had, but he wasn’t surprised.

“No, you don’t get it. Thea doesn’t drink, Thea doesn’t do drugs and the reason she doesn’t do it is because of what happened on the one year anniversary of your disappearance.” Felicity explained. “I’m telling you. She would not have taken anything, and if she did, she wouldn’t have tried to drive.”

“What happened?” Oliver asked, afraid of the answer he might get.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity tells Oliver what happened to Thea four years ago and gives him a nudge in a good direction.

“No, you don’t get it. Thea doesn’t drink, Thea doesn’t do drugs and the reason she doesn’t do it is because of what happened on the one year anniversary of your disappearance.” Felicity explained. “I’m telling you. She would not have taken anything, and if she did, she wouldn’t have tried to drive.”

“What happened?” Oliver asked, afraid of the answer he might get.

Felicity sighed. “Before I tell you, you have to remember something. Thea was 13. Her father was dead. Her brother was dead. Her mother was barely making it through every day. That’s not a good situation for anyone to be in. I also want you to remember that she hasn’t had any slip-ups or repeats of what happened.”

“What happened?”

* * *

 

**Starling September 2008**

Thea looked away from Felicity’s television to the woman herself. “How can you watch this stuff?”

“I don’t, but Megan seems to like it.” The blonde answered as she began picking up toys off the floor. The baby was watching the video with wide eyes from her spot in her playpen. She didn’t even seem to realize anyone else was in the room with her. Thea had come over because she claimed she needed to get out of the house. Today was the one-year anniversary of the Queen’s Gambit going missing. Felicity really needed to run to the store and asked if Thea could watch Megan while she ran out.

“It’s just music and shapes moving around.” The 13-year old argued.

“Yeah, she’s five months old. That’s kind of all her brain can really process at this age. You’ll be able to tune it out pretty easily.” She reasoned. “I shouldn’t be gone for more than half an hour. I just need to go to the store and bringing her with me is such a hassle for as little as what I need to get.”

“Well, get going then.” Thea said with a smile. “It’s just down the street. Megan and I will be fine.”

 

Twenty minutes later, Felicity unlocked the door to her house with her shopping in one hand. As soon as the door opened, she could hear Megan crying. She wasn’t just being fussy, she was crying, wailing even. Panicking, Felicity dropped her bags and ran towards her screaming child. Megan was still in her crib, her face was red from screaming and her legs were kicking back and forth.

“Hey, babygirl, what’s- Thea?” She asked. Thea was unconscious on the couch. Felicity shook her shoulder and she didn’t wake up. Her skin felt clammy and when Felicity checked her pulse, it was very weak. She had no idea what to do, so she did the only thing she could think of. “Yes, hello? I’m at 1421 Adams Street, I need an ambulance.”

 

Thea heard a low beeping noise as she was dragged back to consciousness. Her vision was blurry when she first opened her eyes, but after blinking a few times, it cleared. She was alone in a hospital room. A few minutes later, a nurse came and saw that she was awake. She took some readings before leaving the room. Seconds later, Moira came into the room.

“Mom, where-? What happened?”

“Thea, what’s the last thing you remember?” Her mother asked.

“I was at Felicity’s. She needed to stop at the store. What happened?”

“What happened is you Od’d in my living room while watching Megan.” Felicity said in an angry voice from the doorway. “I left my infant with you and you decided that was a good time to take a bunch of Vicodin.”

“Felicity, I’m sor-.”

“No. No. I’m not doing this. What if something had happened to Megan while I was gone? What if there had been an emergency? You would’ve been too high to do anything. You could’ve died. Megan could’ve died. So just saying sorry isn’t enough.” She shouted.

“Felicity, I understand you’re upset but-.” Moira started to say.

“Upset doesn’t begin to cover it. Megan is five months old. She’s helpless. She can’t talk, she can’t walk, she needs the person watching her to actually watch her.” Felicity said, angry tears rolling down her cheeks. She wiped them away and took a deep breath. “I know today’s a hard day, its been a hard year, but I can’t risk this happening again. I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I don’t want you around Megan until I’m confident this won’t happen again.” She said. “If you want to see Megan, you need to get some help.”

“What?”

“You heard what I said.” She said firmly. “You need to get clean before I’ll let you see her again. I have to do what’s best for Megan.” Felicity turned and left the room. A few moments later, she heard someone follow after her. “You aren’t going to change my mind. What if Megan hadn’t been in her playpen? What if she’d crawled over to where Thea left those pills and ate one? Thea’s in pain, Moira, I understand that, but I can’t let this happen again.”

“I know.” Moira responded. “But I’m the one who decided not to notice what was happening to Thea. This is also my fault.”

Thea left the hospital and went to straight to an elite rehab center in California. The press were told that Thea was going to an exclusive boarding school on the east coast for a semester, needing distance from Starling and the memory of her father and brother. Recovery was difficult, but Thea stuck with it. She went to every group session, she made her way through the 12 step program and faced the issues she was trying to run away from head on.

It took Thea months before Felicity finally started to forgive her and start bringing Megan around her again. At the beginning, it hurt the teen more than she could say, but the longer she was clean, the more she realized how terrified the blonde must’ve been when she found her. After what Felicity began referring to as ‘The Incident’, whenever Thea started to feel the need to take something, she called Felicity or Tommy or her mother.

* * *

 

**Present**

Felicity finished telling Oliver the story and waited for his reaction. “She- that happened?”

“Yes. And that was the rock bottom she needed to hit to get some help. She’s been clean and sober ever since then.”

“As far as you know.” He wanted to believe Thea was innocent, but he was also so angry about what Felicity had just shared with him.

“No, I know she has been.” Felicity argued. “I’ve gotten very good at knowing when people are hiding things from me. And even better at noticing when someone has a substance abuse problem.”

“I understand that, but…addicts are never former addicts. They’re always recovering addicts. It never goes away.” He said.

“Well, whether she fell off the wagon or not, maybe a certain archer should go after the man behind Vertigo. Thea’s not the first person to crash their car, or worse, because of it.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver faces off against the Count.

After telling Oliver about Thea’s overdose in the past, and giving him a nudge to find the Vertigo dealer, Felicity took off towards the police station. She knew Thea was likely scared and confused about what was going on. Even though Thea was an adult, and she wasn’t technically family, one of the officers let her into the interrogation room to see her.

The brunette looked up when she entered the room. “Felicity, I- I didn’t take- someone must’ve drugged me. I didn’t take anything. I wouldn’t- please tell me you believe me. I- you know I don’t-.”

“I know.”

“That sounds a lot like you admitting to doing drugs in the past.” Lance said from the doorway.

“And if she did, detective?” Felicity cut in. “Thea was in a dark place after the Queen’s Gambit’s accident. She could’ve made some less than smart choices, driven by emotion. I’m sure you of all people can relate.” She had an edge to her tone at the end.

“What are you implying?”

“That you, a recovering alcoholic, have a lot of nerve sounding so sanctimonious right now.” She said bluntly. It was a rude thing to say, but she was still really pissed about Lance’s attitude towards Oliver, especially his reaction to Oliver, Tommy and Megan getting kidnapped.

This angered Lance. “Thea is now an adult and you are not her attorney.”

“No, I’m not. I came down to keep Thea company until her lawyer could get here. She did ask for one, didn’t she?”

Felicity sat with Thea, engaged in a staredown with Lance, until Jean Loring, the Queen family attorney, arrived. After Jean was there and asked to speak with Thea alone, Felicity left.

 

The next morning, after dropping Megan off at preschool, Felicity texted Oliver and asked how his search was going. He said it was off to a slow start. Queen Mansion had a lot of cameras, but there were also a lot of people at Thea’s party and finding video evidence that cleared Thea would be difficult. She thought about it while she was at work and called Oliver on her lunch break.

“We might not be able to clear Thea's name, but even if we can’t, we need to stop whoever’s behind Vertigo.” She told him.

“Thea’s arraignment was this morning. The judge rejected a plea deal.” Oliver said. “She could go to prison.”

“You worry about the drugs, I’ll find a way to help Thea.” She said before hanging up. She finished her lunch quickly and drove towards the Glades. Parking outside of her destination, she got out of her car and hoped the person she needed to talk to would at least hear her out.

She walked into the building and found the person she was looking for fairly easily. “I’m sorry to drop by without calling, but I need your help with something. It’s about Thea. The judge wants to make an example out of her, but we both know she won’t do well in prison.”

“I know.” Laurel responded. “I can try talking to my dad. He knows the judge so- I can’t promise anything.”

“All I’m asking is for you to try.” She said. Laurel and Felicity had a civil relationship, but that was it. The anger involved in their first meeting stopped them from truly being friends, but they could get along when they needed to. “I’ll get out of your hair now.”

 

Oliver, meanwhile, had tracked down the dealer who’d been at Thea’s party. All the man could tell him was that his supplier was someone called The Count. Using that information, he got in touch with the Bratva to set up a meeting with the Count. He made them believe that, as a captain, he was interested in getting involved in the drug trade. They told him they’d have a meeting set up within the next day. After leaving the garage they used for a front, he went to the SCPD. The police were aware of Vertigo’s existence, and according to Tommy, their friend McKenna worked on the vice squad. She gave him a file about the Count, but asked him to let the police handle things.

The Bratva organized a meeting with the Count. Oliver went as himself, claiming he wanted the drugs to make Verdant a more ‘interesting’ experience for his customers. The meeting was just starting when several police cars drove up and interrupted it. the Count ran off, but not before injecting Oliver with his product. Digg dragged him away and cured him using herbs from Lian Yu.

When Oliver woke up, John told him the Count had gotten away in the chaos, but he left behind a sample of the drugs. He went to Felicity’s to find her and Megan both eating breakfast. He hadn’t realized he’d been out for so long. Megan was excited to see him, but wanted to know why he didn’t come home last night.

“I fell asleep at Grandma’s house.” He told her. He was happy to see her, but her excited yelling was hurting his head.

“Why didn’t I get to come?” She asked. “I like sleeping at Grandma’s too!”

“Honey, Daddy didn’t mean to exclude you. Why don’t we talk to Grandma and maybe this weekend you and Auntie Thea can have another sleepover?” Felicity suggested. “Besides, Daddy’s not fun at sleepovers. He goes to bed too early.”

“Why? Staying up late is more fun.” Megan told Oliver with all the seriousness a four-year-old could manage.

“I keep hearing that.” He said. “Why don’t you go get dressed for school?” Megan ran off to get dressed and he looked at Felicity. “Hey, I kinda need a favor.”

“Does this have to do with how clearly hungover you are?”

“I met the Count and he dosed me with Vertigo, actually.” He said. “I’m fine though. And I have a sample of the drug.” He pulled a syringe out of his pocket. “And I was hoping-.”

“I could analyze it and tell you where it was made or what the components are?”

“The first one, please.”

“No problem. If you’ll call your mother and ask if Megan can sleep over there this weekend.” She said, taking the syringe from him.

“Does she know what’s going on with Thea?” Oliver asked.

“Kinda. I told her someone gave Thea something that made her act silly and crash her car. I told her the police thought she did it on purpose. It’s the best way I can explain it to her since she’s so young. And she’s smart, so she knew something was going on.”

Within a few hours, she called Oliver and told him the drugs were made at an abandoned juvenile detention center in the Glades. Oliver wanted to face the Count alone, despite being unable to use his bow due to the drugs’ after effects. Thankfully, Felicity and Digg talked some sense into him and he agreed, begrudgingly, to let John come with him.

They quickly made their way through the building and fought their way through the Count’s men before finding the man himself. Oliver tussled with the dealer for a few minutes before overpowering him ad injecting him with his own drugs. Right after he injected the syringes, he heard sirens so he and Digg fled the building.

Oliver decided to call it a night after that, despite it being fairly early. He called Thea to check in and see how she was doing. She told him that, thanks to Laurel, she’d made a deal for two years of probation and community service instead of jail time.

He drove to Felicity’s house and told her the news. She didn’t seem surprised. “You knew?”

“I’m the one who asked Laurel for help.” She said. “If anyone could talk Lance into going easy on Thea, it would be her.”

“I thought you two didn’t get along.”

“We aren’t friends. We probably will never be friends, but we’ve reached a point where we’re civil to each other, even friendly sometimes. And we both knew Thea going to prison was a bad idea.” She said.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megan and Oliver talk about something important, and Digg and Felicity begin investigating Moira.

The morning after Oliver had taken down the Count, he woke up and walked into the kitchen of Felicity’s house. Megan was sitting at the kitchen table, bouncing up and down.

“Somebody’s hyper.” He remarked. “Did you help yourself to cookies for breakfast or something?”

“No. Mommy said its not allowed. She gave me cereal. Can I have cookies for breakfast?” She asked.

“No, cookies are for dessert, they aren’t for breakfast.” He told her. “So, if you aren’t hopped up on sugar, why are you so excited?”

“What day is it?”

“March 3rd.” He answered.

“And do you know what that means?” She asked.

“It’s almost Pi day. Mommy’s favorite day of the year.”

“No Daddy! It means my birthday’s in exactly one month!” Megan said in an exasperated tone. “I’m gonna be five!”

“Of course.” He said, while internally beating himself up. Megan’s birthday was April 3rd, and he didn’t know that. He didn’t know his own daughter’s birthday. What kind of father was he? “Do you know what you want this year?”

“I dunno.” She said with a shrug.

“What did you ask for last year?”

“Grandma and Mommy got me everything I wanted, ‘cept one thing, but I can’t ask for that.”

“Why not?” He asked.

“Because I got it.” She said. “I wanted you to be alive so I could have my daddy back. And then someone found you and you came back.”

Oliver was speechless. Thankfully, Felicity had walked up by this point and knew what to say. “it’s okay if you still need to think about what present you want for your birthday. You don’t have to decide right now.”

“Okay.”

“Grab your backpack. We don’t wanna be late, do we?” Felicity said, causing Megan to run off. Shen then looked over to Oliver and gave him a sad smile. “I probably should’ve told you about Megan’s big birthday wish every year. With everything going on, her birthday snuck up on me.”

  

After the drama of Thea’s arrest was over, things quieted down for Oliver and his family for a few days. He continued to go out as the Hood and cross names off of his list, but things in his personal life calmed down significantly. That was until Digg and Felicity both, independently of one another, approached him about his mother.

John felt like something wasn’t quite right about Moira’s behavior lately. It seemed to him like she was hiding something. He also brought up the fact that Walter went missing shortly after mentioning the names on the List to her.

Felicity’s argument was a lot less circumstantial. Walter had a notebook like Oliver did. He came to her asking about it, which meant it wasn’t his, since he wouldn’t need to ask if he already knew what it was. Given how secretive he was about the book, he could’ve only gotten it from a handful of people, those who lived or spent a great deal of time at Queen Mansion. And Thea, Felicity and Megan could automatically be ruled out as the source, for different, but obvious, reasons. Moira was the only logical explanation of how he got the notebook. She also brought up the fact that Moira had invested in a fake company called Tempest, and when confronted about it, the lie she told wasn’t that believable.

 Oliver was reluctant to suspect his mother, and he told them both that. Felicity sighed and declared she’d find more proof if she had to. John took a different approach and decided if Moira was innocent, driving her around for a few days would prove that. Felicity’s search didn’t get very far before John confronted Oliver with a recording of his mother meeting with her ‘accountant’. In the audiotape he played. She referenced something called ‘The Undertaking’ and said she didn’t need to make the usual threats to someone. Her companion’s response couldn’t be heard, but what happened next pulled the rug right out from under Oliver’s feet. Moira said the Gambit was sabotaged. She admitted to knowing it was sabotaged. What else could she be hiding?

He changed into his hood and sped over to Queen Consolidated. His mother was working late and it wouldn’t be too difficult to find her. He crashed through the window of her office and took out her security. The two men she was meeting with ran out of the room.

“Moira Queen, you have failed this city.” She went for the phone, but he shot it off of the desk. “Stand down.”

“Please don’t kill me.”

“Do you know anything about your husband’s disappearance?” He asked. “Is Walter Steele still alive?”

“I don’t know where my husband is, I swear.”

“Do you know anything about the undertaking?” He growled. Moira looked like she was going to pick up a weapon, so he shouted at her. “I said don’t move.”

She held up a picture of Oliver and Thea. “Please, I have a family. My son, Oliver and my daughter, Thea. She’s just a teenager. And my granddaughter, she’s only four. Please don’t take me away from them.”

Oliver relaxed slightly, which gave Moira an opening to pull out a gun she had hidden and shoot at him. He was hit in the chest. He could hear his mother call someone for help and used the distraction to escape her office. He couldn’t believe his mother had shot him.

 

He was able to make it to the parking garage without being seen and he spotted a familiar car. About ten minutes later, he heard the car’s doors unlock. He groaned so that Felicity wouldn’t have a heart attack when he began talking. She still jumped a foot in the air and spun around.

“I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“Are you- is that blood?” She asked, before realizing it was a dumb question. “I’m glad this happened the same night Thea and Megan are having their Aunt-Niece sleepover. I don’t even know how I’d explain this one.”

“Could you please drive and I’ll explain later?” He said.

“Yeah. I’ve already got about nine questions you’re gonna need to answer.” She said as she pulled out of the parking space.

“If we- in case I’m not awake when we get there, you need to have the blood sample destroyed.”

“You left blood behind?”

“I wasn’t expecting my mom to shoot me.”

“Your mom did this?!”

“Like I said, I’ll explain later.” He said as his eyelids started to feel heavy.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity and Digg fight to save Oliver and the archer has some explaining to do.

Felicity drove Oliver to the foundry and tried to bring him inside. Unfortunately, he wasn’t very small or light, so she couldn’t evet get him out of her car. She ran into the lair, startling Digg, and demanded he help her move Oliver. John raced upstairs to get Oliver, brought him into the foundry and laid him out on one of the tables.

“I hope you aren’t squeamish.” He said as he handed her some gloves.

“I’m not, as long as needles aren’t involved. The one they gave me for my epidural didn’t exactly-.”

“Felicity, focus.” He said. “It just missed the carotid. It’s a zone two wound. Apply pressure there.” He said, putting her hand where there needed to be pressure. He walked over to a cabinet and pulled out forceps, gauze and a few bags of blood.

“He really keeps bags of his own blood down here?” She asked. He mentioned it in passing, but he told her so casually, she thought it was a weird joke of his or something.

“Said he was saving it for a rainy day. Right now, its pouring.” John said. They removed the bullet and John patched up Oliver’s wound. “I take it talking to his mother didn’t go so well.”

“What gave it away?” She said sarcastically. “Why did the Hood go after Moira in the first place?”

“You know how I’ve been driving her around for the last few days. Earlier today, I recorded Moira talking to someone in a restaurant. She mentioned something called The Undertaking. And revealed the Queen’s Gambit was sabotaged.”

“The Gambit was sabotaged?”

“Yes. And she admitted to knowing it was.”

“Did she say when she knew?”

“No, she didn’t.” John said before playing the tape.

“Still she knew it wasn’t an accident. She knew, and she didn’t tell anyone. Her husband was on that boat, her son was on that boat. She found out it was tampered with, and she didn’t say anything?!” Felicity yelled. “This is- I’m gonna-.” She started to feel like she couldn’t breathe.

“I need you to breathe. I can’t let you pass out while Oliver’s also unconscious. Panic later.”

Her breathing got under control just as Oliver’s heart rate monitor started going crazy. Digg pulled out the defibrillator, and tried to use it, but nothing happened. Felicity heard the charge, which meant there was an issue with the wires. She fixed it and John was able to restart Oliver’s heart. They both slumped back in their seats, trying to catch their breath. After about a minute, Felicity jumped up.

“Oh frack, I forgot about the blood.”

“We’ll clean it up later.”

“Not that blood. The blood he left at QC, in his mom’s office.”

She went over to the computers and hacked into the SCPD. She created a fake memo ordering the sample be destroyed.  It hadn’t been tested yet, thanks to the lab being backlogged. There were a few more scares over the next few hours, the biggest of which was when one of the leads on Oliver’s heart monitor got disconnected and Digg almost shocked him with the AED again. As dawn arrived, Oliver woke up.

“I didn’t die, again. Cool.”

“Cool? Really? You think that’s cool?” Felicity asked.

“I didn’t mean it…quite like that.” He said.

“You don’t have a concussion, do you?” She asked.

“No.”

“Good.” She said right before slapping him. “That’s for scaring me.” She then hugged him, careful of his wounds. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s gonna cut it, man.” Digg said.

“It’s not.” Felicity said crossing her arms. “So, your mom shot you.”

“She was scared and trying to protect herself.”

“Maybe. It doesn’t explain why she’s part of some Undertaking or even what that is.”

“It could be nothing.”

“Like the Gambit being sabotaged is nothing?”

“You told her?” He asked Digg.

The blonde answered instead. “Yes, he did. The Gambit was sabotaged. Your mother knew it was sabotaged. Why didn’t I know? Why didn’t the world know? Huh?”

“She was scared.”

“And? If something like that happened to Megan, no matter what threat I faced, no matter how scared I was, I wouldn’t have just kept quiet about it.” She argued.

“She’s my mother.”

“And that doesn’t prove anything. It doesn’t absolve her of anything. it just makes her look more guilty. Because this is the second husband of hers that’s gone missing related to that notebook.” She said.

“I know you’re angry and upset but-.”

“You don’t get it. I heard the tape. This was something she’d accepted a while ago. She stood there and accused me of ‘capitalizing on her family’s grief’ when I said I was pregnant. She spent months trying to use my conflicted feelings about you to convince me to leave town forever. All the while, she could’ve known that you didn’t die in an accident. For all I know, her learning the truth is why the search for you got called off. And if that’s the case, I went through my pregnancy alone because of her. Megan didn’t have a father for four year, because of her. Because she found out the yacht was tampered with and she didn’t tell anyone. You aren’t the only person who gets to be angry about this.”

Oliver was at a loss for words. Felicity realized he wouldn’t accept the truth and stormed out. Digg stopped him before he could go very far. “Let her go.”

“No, I need to-.”

“You need to let her calm down. She just learned a lot of troubling things at once. She needs time to process.” He said.

Oliver slept at the foundry and drove to Queen Mansion after a few hours to pick up Megan from her sleepover with Thea. He ran into his mother on the way out and awkwardly made up an excuse to leave. He might not believe she was some criminal mastermind, but after last night, he wasn’t ready to be around her yet.

“How was your sleepover?” He asked his daughter.

“It was really fun. Auntie Thea did my nails and then we watched Tangled and we played with my Barbies and ate lots of candy!”

“That sounds really fun.”

“It was! And she gave me an idea for my birthday.”

“Oh, really? What was her idea?”

“I want a pony!” The four-year-old declared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will not be a chapter next week, because I'll be on vacation.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity discuss Megan's birthday and Felicity recalls telling her mother about being pregnant.

“Auntie Thea did my nails and then we watched Tangled and we played with my Barbies and ate lots of candy!” Megan told her father as he drove them both home.

“That sounds really fun.”

“It was! And she gave me an idea for my birthday.”

“Oh, really? What was her idea?”

“I want a pony!” The four-year-old declared. He chuckled at that. What four-year-old girl didn’t want a pony for her birthday? “Can I have one, Daddy? Please, please, please.”

“Why don’t we see what your mom has to say first?” He asked. He was totally on board with getting Megan a pony, Thea had gotten one around the same age, but he had a feeling Felicity wouldn’t be quite as in board with it.

They got home and as soon as Megan was unbuckled from her car seat, she ran towards the house to ask Felicity for a pony for her birthday. Oliver grabbed the bag Megan had packed and followed her inside. Megan was following Felicity around as she put away dishes, telling her mother about her wish.

“Please? I’ll take care of her, I promise.”

“A pony sounds like a lot of responsibility.”

“I’ll feed her every day. And brush her and make sure she gets to run a lot.”

“Where is she gonna sleep?” Felicity asked. “I don’t have a place for a pony to sleep. And your answer better not be that she can sleep in your bed.”

“I dunno. Maybe she can live at Grandma’s?” The girl suggested. “Please? I want a pony.”

“We’ll see.”

Megan frowned. “That always means ‘no’.”

“Did I say ‘no’?” Her mother countered. The preschooler shook her head. “Then I didn’t say no. Daddy and I need to talk about it. I’m not saying ‘yes’ but that doesn’t automatically mean ‘no’.”

“What does auto- atmatically mean?” She asked.

“It means I’m not saying ‘no’ to say no. And I’m not saying it without thinking about it first.” She explained. “Why don’t you go play while Daddy and I talk?”

“Okay.” She said before running off. She gave Oliver a sad look, puppy eyes and all, before going into the living room.

“We are saying ‘no’ about the pony, right?” Oliver asked.

“Of course we are! She’s gonna turn five. She doesn’t even know how much work a horse is.” She said. “But maybe giving her a pet, a small one, isn’t the worst idea. She seems to like cats.”

“Whatever you wanna do.” He said, unhelpfully. The room went quiet. “I take it you’re still angry.”

“Of course I am. Your mother shot you. She lied about what happened. I’m not just gonna get over that in the span of four hours.” She said. “What worries me is what this could mean.”

“What do you mean?”

Felicity shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

Oliver was, reasonably, in denial about the fact that his mother might not be as innocent as she appeared. She needed more proof before she could make her suspicions known. Moira had a gun and, by Oliver’s own account, didn’t seem confused as to why the Hood might pay her a visit. She was involved in something called the Undertaking. She knew the Queens Gambit had been sabotaged. Walter found the List among her things, and shortly after he started asking questions, he disappeared. Those facts all added up to Moira being involved with the person who sabotaged the yacht and that the person responsible wasn’t done with whatever they were planning.

“We have more people to cross off your list, and Megan’s birthday is coming up. Which means a massive party and my mom coming back to town.” She said.

* * *

 

**Starling City 2007**

When Felicity came home from Oliver’s funeral, she changed and braced herself for what she needed to do. She was still in the early stages of her pregnancy. Looking at her, no one could tell that she was pregnant. She, hopefully, had a few more weeks at least before anyone would guess. In a perfect world, she could wait that long before needing to tell her mother.

Unfortunately, she didn’t live in a perfect world. Her baby’s father was a recently deceased celebrity. Paparazzi were stumbling over themselves to get any kind of breaking story out of Oliver’s family. They’d even tried to crash his funeral. It was only a matter of time before they started to speculate about Thea’s “new friend”. Or someone who’d overheard her confrontation with Laurel tipped them off about her being pregnant. In any case, Felicity didn’t want her mother to find out she was pregnant from a tabloid. She and Donna might not get along, but she deserved better than that.

Felicity took several deep breaths and looked at the clock. it was early afternoon. Donna would be getting ready for work, but wouldn’t have left for work yet. It was either now, or very early tomorrow morning when she got home. She hit ‘dial’ and waited for her mother to answer.

“Hello?” Donna said. As soon as she heard her mother’s voice, Felicity’s hormones got the best of her and she started crying. “Felicity? Is everything okay?”

She sniffled. “Not really. I need to- could you come to Starling in the next few days?”

“I don’t- please, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

“I- I need to- there’s something I need to- can you please come to town soon?” She asked.

“Okay. I have the next three days off and Carmen owes me a favor. I can ask her to cover for me tonight.” She said. Donna hadn’t heard Felicity like this in years. She knew, whatever had happened, she needed to get to her fast. “I’ll see if there are any flights today. I’ll call you with my flight information.”

“Thank you.” Felicity said before hanging up.

Five hours later, Felicity was sitting in her car, tapping the steering wheel nervously. Donna’s flight had landed about fifteen minutes ago. She knew her mother could come walking out of the airport any second. She stared at herself in the mirror, trying to psych herself up. Way too soon, her mother, looking uncharacteristically serious, was knocking on the passenger side window. She unlocked the door and let her mother get into the car.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Donna asked.

“Not here. I wanna get home and then tell you.” She answered.

They drove to Felicity’s apartment in silence. Felicity was thinking about all possible reactions her mother could have. Donna, meanwhile, was trying to guess what this was about. Was Felicity sick? Did someone die? Was she in trouble? Was her father back?

They got to the apartment. Donna put her bag down in the foyer and turned to face Felicity, with her hands on her hips. “Ok, talk.”

“I’m pregnant.” She blurted out. “Oliver Queen is the father. I found out the day before he left with his father. I didn’t want you to find out from some gossip rag.” She took in a deep breath and waited for Donna’s reaction.

“Oh my god!” She screamed. “My baby is having a baby.” She rushed over to hug Felicity. “I didn’t know you were dating Oliver Queen.”

“I wasn’t- we weren’t- we weren’t exactly together. it’s….complicated.”

“Still, you two must’ve been somewhat together. I know how babies are made, honey.” She said. “How are you feeling?”

“Ok, I guess. I’m nauseous a lot.”

“That’s normal. You’re keeping the baby, aren’t you?”

She let out a sign of relief. She was terrified that her mother would be angry about the baby or try and convince her to give it up for adoption or something. Donna, meanwhile, was happy Felicity’s news wasn’t something worse. The baby might be a surprise, but that didn’t make it a bad situation. She was ticked off, though, at Oliver. She believed that Oliver had gone away with his father after finding out Felicity was pregnant. Couldn’t the trip have waited?

* * *

 

**Present**

Oliver was about to ask about when Megan’s party would be when their daughter came into the room. she told them she wanted to watch cartoons and needed someone to turn on the TV and change the channel for her. Oliver turned on the TV and the news was reporting on a museum guard who went into work, stole a large ruby and walked out of the building. The same guard was found unconscious in an abandoned building later that day. When questioned, he told police he was threatened by a jewel thief who called himself the Dodger.

“Daddy! This is boring.” Megan said.

“Sorry.” He said as he changed the channel. He looked over at Felicity. It seemed like the Hood needed to pay this jewel thief a visit.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver faces off against the Dodger, Felicity gets a big scare and Megan's birthday arrives.

After seeing the report on the news, Felicity started looking into the Dodger. He wasn’t well-known in the US, but he’d made quite a name for himself in Europe. The guard’s testimony about being forced to steal jewelry by having a bomb collar around his neck fit with the man’s M.O. It was also how the Dodger got his name. He didn’t steal anything, just forced others to do it for him. He’d only failed once, and that ended with his “accomplice” losing his head. Interpol sent two investigators to Starling to assist the SCPD with their investigation.

A few hours after the story first broke, there was an update. A man had been found shot to death in an abandoned warehouse. It didn’t seem related, but Felicity did some more digging and discovered that the man was a known fence. Oliver guessed that he’d tried to change the deal he made with the Dodger to sell the ruby and the Dodger shot him in response. He’d be looking for someone else to help him sell the ruby. Felicity used the dead man’s rap sheet to find other fences, and gave Oliver their names.

Oliver suited up that night and went out to investigate. The Dodger was meeting with his new contact when the SCPD raided the building. He got away, but ran into Oliver. The Hood began to chase after him, but he set off an explosive collar as a distraction to give himself a clean getaway. The Dodger had lost the stolen ruby in the shuffle, which meant he was looking for another score.

Felicity did a little digging and discovered that the Dodger seemed to prefer pieces from the Ominous Decade. Luckily, the Queen family owed quite a few pieces from that era, and Oliver donated one on behalf of his family for an auction being held by the Starling City Cancer Society the following night. Moira was more than willing to let him donate the brooch, since she thought it was rather ugly. Felicity put a tracker on the jewel and agreed to be Oliver’s date to the auction.

The first half hour of the auction was rather boring. The only people Oliver’s bait seemed to attract was the police. Felicity had been expecting a dramatic interruption to the event, so when the tracker said the brooch was moving, and nothing drastic happened, she was worried. Moving towards the direction of the display cases, she spotted a man in an expensive suit slip something into his pocket.

“That piece was donated by the Queen family. If you want it, you’re gonna need to bid on it.” She said.

“Actually, I was thinking I’d just take it.” He responded.

Oliver was looking around, wondering where Felicity had gone. John saw her walking towards them and nudged Oliver. She got closer to them and Oliver saw that she had an explosive collar around her neck.

“I think I have a problem.” She said. They moved her into a side room, away from everyone else. “Get away from me. if this thing blows-.”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

“The Dodger said if I called the police- I’m gonna get decapitated, aren’t I?” She asked. Digg started rifling through a bunch of pens, looking for one small enough to get a look at the bomb.

“No. Tracker’s on the move. If I find him, I can get him to disarm it.” Oliver said. “Talk me in. Stay calm.”

“Too late.”

Digg got the panel on the front of the collar off and told Oliver to go catch the Dodger and he’d handle the bomb.

“Talk to me Felicity.” Oliver said as he ran out of the building.

“He’s heading towards Adams and O’Neill. At the speed he’s going, he’s gotta be in a vehicle.” She said.

Oliver stole a man’s bike and sped off in that direction. She hacked into the traffic cameras and told Oliver exactly where to go to catch up with the thief. Oliver threw an arrow at the car, blowing out one of the tires and causing the Dodger to crash. He crawled out of his crash car and pulled out the remote detonator.

“Don’t do anything stupid. I had the foresight to collar up a particularly inquisitive blonde. I assume she’s a friend of yours. Touch one hair on my head, and she loses hers.” The Dodger said.

“You’ve got quite the choice to make, don’t you?”

He pressed a button and Felicity’s collar started beeping.

“It didn’t go off, but now it’s beeping. I have a bomb around my neck and its beeping.” Felicity said. “John, you should get out of here.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Digg responded.

“I need you to go.” She said tearfully. “Someone has to- I need you to tell Oliver and Megan that I love them. I need you to do that for me, okay?”

Oliver breathed out a sigh of relief. Felicity was still alive, for now. The button only primed the explosive. He needed to press a different button to detonate it. Before his finger could reach the second button, Oliver threw a fletchette, which hit him in the forearm.

“Your median nerve’s been severed. You couldn’t press that button if you tired.”

Before he could even react, Oliver had punched the Dodger in the face. He took the remote from him and pressed the button that disarmed the explosive. Digg told him it had worked. Oliver turned back to the Dodger and hit him again. And again. He beat the Dodger nearly to a pulp. Oliver knew he was going overboard but the man in front of him had almost killed Felicity. When he’d hit that button, Oliver thought he’d failed. He went beserk. He was pulled out of his rage when Felicity spoke again.

“That’s enough excitement for one night. Can we go home now?”

Oliver knocked him out and anonymously tipped the SCPD off to where the Dodger’s car had crashed.

 

It took Felicity a few days to recover mentally from her ordeal with the Dodger. She didn’t regret trying to stop him, but after the adrenaline wore off, she realized she could’ve died. Megan would’ve lost her mother. The thought kept her up at night for a week, until it boiled over and she demanded to know why Oliver wasn’t angry at her.

“You couldn’t have known-.”

“I knew he put bomb collars on people. I knew there was a chance. Why aren’t you upset? We have a child. Megan could’ve- she would’ve lost me.”

“She didn’t.”

“But what if she had? She’s four. She’d- oh my god. I’m a terrible parent.”

“No, you aren’t.” He said confidently. “You are an amazing mother. Megan is lucky you’re her mom. It’s my fault. You shouldn’t have been the one to confront the Dodger, I should’ve. That’s on me. Your job was to put the tracker on the brooch and you did. My job was to stop him.” 

Felicity was starting to get back to normal just in time for Megan’s birthday party. It was held at Queen Mansion since Felicity’s condo didn’t have enough space for all of the festivities. The guests were mostly Megan’s friends from preschool and their parents, along with Tommy and her family. The backyard looked like it had been attacked by the colors pink and purple. There were a lot of different activities from a pinata to face-painting spread out across the grounds. Moira never did anything halfway, so there was also plenty of candy to get all of the kids hyper.

Oliver was talking about his plans for Verdant with Tommy when he saw Billy run up to Megan. “Not again, man. She’s four.”

“She’s five, actually. And I still say he’s flirting with her.” Oliver insisted. Tommy rolled his eyes and walked away.

“Those two sure are cute, aren’t they?” Someone said from next to Oliver. “Sorry, I’m Pam, Billy’s mom. Nice to meet you.”

“Oliver Queen.”

“Oh, I know.” She said with a smile. “They’re so cute together, aren’t they? I don’t think there’s anything as cute as two kids with their first crush.”

“They’re five.” He pointed out. Megan was way too young to have a crush on a boy. She was growing up too fast. He didn’t remember having a crush on someone when he was her age. He didn’t want to hear how cute it was that his daughter liked a boy anymore, so he made an excuse to go looking for Felicity.

Felicity knew from experience that they needed to open presents before cake. Once the cake was cut, it was going to be impossible to get Megan focused enough to open her gifts. After the kids had been running around for about an hour, she announced it was time to open presents. Megan bounced up and down in excitement. She liked getting presents.

Most of her classmates’ parents bought her toys. A few gave her books. Moira and Donna gave her clothes, much to the girl’s annoyance. Clothes weren’t fun presents to a five-year-old. Thea bought her a big Barbie playhouse for the next time they had a sleepover. Tommy’s present was next. She tore off the paper and started screaming “thank you” at him.

“Look Mommy! Uncle Tommy got me a bow and arrow!” She said, holding it up. It was a toy bow and arrow, and the arrows were made out of the same material as Nerf gun bullets. Oliver still turned to glare at Tommy.

“What? She’s been telling everyone for months that she wants to be like the Hood when she grows up. I figure, she should start practicing now.” He defended.

Finally, it was time for Oliver and Felicity to give Megan their present. They didn’t get her a pony like she wanted, but when Oliver put the oversized box down in front of her and she pulled the lid off, she didn’t seem to care. Inside the box was a tiny, orange Tabby kitten. After Megan said she wanted a pony, Felicity looked into any newborn kittens in the city. There was a family in Pennytown whose cat had a litter of kittens. They were nine weeks old by this point, and old enough to be adopted.

“A kitty!” Megan exclaimed.

“Mommy and Daddy couldn’t find any ponies.” Felicity lied. “But we thought you might like a kitten.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She said. “What’s her name?”

“I don’t know. You get to name her.”

“Tiger.” She said immediately. Megan’s family all chuckled at that.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity remembers the day Megan was born.

After giving Megan her gift, Oliver helped Felicity cut the birthday cake. The kids gorged themselves on the cake, and candy from the pinata, before their parents began to pick them up and depart. After eating her cake, Megan took her new kitten aside and started petting her. She sat on a pool chair, cradling the kitten while the adults cleaned up the mess from the party. Oliver stopped clearing off one of the tables, looking at his daughter fondly.

“You okay over there, big brother?”

“Yeah, I just- I missed so much. I missed her first four birthdays, and the pregnancy.” He said “I wish I’d been here to help her through it.”

“Actually, you wouldn't be saying that if you had been here for all of it.” Thea responded.

“What do you mean?”

“Let's just say it wasn't all easy going.” 

* * *

 

**November 2007**

Felicity was getting dressed for the day, trying to zip up her skirt, but the zipper wouldn’t budge. She looked at herself in the mirror and one thought came to mind.

“It’s a good thing Oliver’s already dead.”

“Why would you say something like that?” Thea said from behind her.

“Oh frack, I said that out loud.” She said, closing her eyes. “I didn’t- I didn’t mean it. I’m just being dramatic. My clothes don’t fit. Your brother got me pregnant and my clothes don’t fit and I’m supposed to sit in on this important meeting, but I can’t just show up in clothes that are way too small.”

“C’mon.” Thea said. “Let’s figure something out. That skirt might not fit, but there’s gotta be something in here I can work with.”

“There isn’t. This outfit was my last resort.” She snapped.

“Oh ye of little faith.” 

* * *

 

**February 2008**

Felicity sat slumped on the sofa, her legs spread apart for her massive belly. She was almost seven months pregnant and the wonders of pregnancy had started to wear off. Moira and Thea were doing their best to help make Felicity comfortable and Moria had been very good at helping her through the hard time she'd been having with the “joys” of pregnancy. However, even with help, it had been tough going and Felicity was really starting to feel the strain.

Her hair was a dishevelled mess. She had dark circles around her eyes, which were bloodshot and tired. She looked ready to take someone's head off.

“Good morning Felicity.” Thea said as she and Moira walked into the sitting room.

“What’s so good about it?” The blonde snapped bitterly. giving Thea a murderous look that made her regret her cheerful tone. “I hardly got any sleep last night. I had to get up ten times to go to the toilet and even when I did finally get some sleep, the baby decided that was a good time to start kicking. I can hardly move I’m as big as a house. None of my clothes fit anymore and maternity clothing is so terrible that I can’t even stand thinking about wearing it. I can't eat anything without being sick and get ridiculous cravings. Like peanut butter. If I eat it, I’ll die, so of course that’s all this baby wants.”

“Oh, I know it's difficult dear.”  Moira said soothingly, sitting down next to Felicity and putting her arms around her. She was speaking from experience.

“If only Ollie was here then he could help with this.” Moira closed her eyes and winced at Thea's mistake.

Felicity fixed the 12-year-old with an even more murderous look and Thea swallowed hard and began to back away slowly. “YES I WISH THAT TOO!! SO I COULD THROTTLE HIM TO DEATH MYSELF!!!” She shouted, making a strangling-motion with her hands.

 

 

On Lian Yu, Oliver stopped suddenly, allowing Slade to get a lucky hit in. He felt a cold shiver go up his spine and fear like he’d never felt before. He went pale.

“You alright kid?”

“Yes, I just feel like someone's walked over my grave.” He answered, unsure about what had just happened. 

* * *

 

**Starling-Present**

“So that's what that was.” Oliver said quietly to himself. “Was it really that bad?”

“She was still pissed about Mom’s reaction to learning she was pregnant. Her own mother couldn’t be here as much as Felicity would’ve wanted. Half the city thought she was a gold digger, capitalizing on your death to make money, or get famous. The press changed her reasoning every other day. She was pretty much alone.” Thea answered. “She wasn’t miserable the entire nine months, but she had a lot of bad days. And her bad days were pretty bad.”

“Why hasn’t she told me any of this?”

“Because then you’d feel guilty, even more guilty, about getting on the Gambit with Dad in the first place. I can’t say things would’ve been easier or the same if you were here, but you can’t change what happened. No one can.”

Oliver was about to respond when Megan yelled something from where she was sitting. “Mommy! Daddy! Look!”

Oliver dropped the bag in his hands and rush over to her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothin’.” She said, before holding up her kitten. “Look, Tiger smiled at me.”

The kitten was in fact making a happy face, but Oliver didn’t know if it counted as a smile. “Cool. That means she likes you.”

“Of course she likes me, I’m her best friend.” The five-year-old insisted. “Can we go home now?”

“No, not yet. We need to help Grandma Moira clean up first. We’ll go home soon though.” Felicity told her. “C’mon Oliver.”

“I’m sorry.” He said as they walked back over to the mess they were cleaning up.

“For what?”

“’Missing so much.”

“You’re here now.” She told him. “And maybe you not being there when I went into labor was a good thing.”

“What happened?”

“Megan came a little early.” She said. “We weren’t exactly ready.” 

* * *

 

**April 2008**

Moira followed Felicity into the elevator. Today was one of her last days of work before going on maternity leave. Her due date was in two weeks, but the doctors told her not to work up until that date. The blonde had just finished giving her presentation and was going to go home and sleep. The icy relationship Felicity and Moira had had only thawed slightly since learning about the baby. Moira couldn’t take back what she said to Felicity and Felicity couldn’t forget or move past her accusations. The elevator started to move downwards before it jerked to a stop.

“Oh, that’s just,” Felicity said before wincing, “that’s just perfect.”

“Are you all right? Is the baby-?”

“No, it’s just Braxton-Hicks. I’ve got two more weeks.” She said. “Why aren’t we moving?”

Moira was wondering the same thing and pressed the call button. “This is Moira Queen. Why is this elevator not moving?”

“…Um, its kinda stuck.” The technician said.

“Well, get it unstuck.” She said before releasing the button. She turned to Felicity who was wincing again. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just Braxton-Hicks. I’m not in labor.” She said, taking a seat on the floor.

While the technicians were working on the elevator, Moira kept a close eye on Felicity. Using her watch, she timed how far apart Felicity’s contractions seemed to be. She didn’t want the younger woman to panic, but Moira wasn’t convinced she was having false labor pains.

“Oh, fantastic.” Felicity scoffed.

“What is it?”

“I think I just peed my pants.”

“I don’t think that’s urine.” Moira said. “Your contractions are getting closer together. Your water just broke. You’re in labor.”

“No, I’m not. I have two more weeks.” She argued. “I can’t- this can’t be happening.”

“I know you’re scared, but-.”

“I’m supposed to have two more weeks. I’m not ready for this. My mom’s supposed to be here. Instead, I’m trapped in this elevator with you. You don’t even like me. This isn’t- this can’t be happening.”

“Felicity, you need to breathe. The more you panic, the more the baby panics.” She said calmly. “Breathe.” She pressed the emergency call button again. “Call an ambulance and get us out of here.”

“Ambulance, why do you-?”

“Don’t argue with me, just do it.” She snapped.

Twenty minutes later, the elevator began moving and reached the lobby. The doors opened and there were EMTs waiting. They loaded Felicity onto a stretcher and moved her into the ambulance.

“Wait, my mom- someone needs to call my mom!” She said. “Where’s my phone?”

“You can call her when you get to the hospital.” One of the EMTs said.

“No, you need to call her now. She needs to be here. She’s supposed to be here.”

The EMT looked helplessly at Moira. “Felicity, I’m gonna call her right now, okay?”

Moira called Donna, told her Felicity was in labor and said she’d be sending a plane to Las Vegas to fly her to Starling. With Donna aware of what was going on, Felicity let the EMTs take her to the hospital.

Once in the maternity ward, Felicity was given an ultrasound to make sure the baby was okay. After that, they needed to wait for her labor to progress.

“Felicity, I know we don’t-.” Moira started to say as Felicity paced the room.

“Now really isn’t the best time.” She said. “In fact, I’d be a lot happier if you weren’t even in here.”

Moira knew this mostly the stress of labor and Felicity’s hormones, so she didn’t take her words personally. She sighed and went back to her book as Felicity kept pacing. Thea and Tommy had come by to visit earlier and left to get food. Felicity’s contractions were soon less than five minutes apart and the doctor decided it was time for her to start delivering the baby.

“No.” Felicity said.

“What do you mean no?”

“I mean, no. I’m not giving birth yet. I refuse to push.” She said.

“Ms. Smoak, I know this isn’t the ideal situation but-.”

“No. I am not doing this. I don’t care that I’m early, I don’t care that you aren’t my doctor or that this wasn’t part of the plan. I can accept all of that, but I refuse to have this baby with her here!” She said, gesturing to Moira. “My mom should be here, not the woman who tried to pay me to go away.”

“She tried to what?” Donna asked. She’d just stepped into the room. “You know what? That conversation can wait. Mrs. Queen, I think it would be better if you left.” She said, walking over to her daughter.  Moira left the room. “I’m here, baby. What do you need?”

“I don’t know if I can do this.” Felicity said quietly.  “I’m not ready. It’s too early.”

“You’re a Smoak, of course you can do this.” She said. “And your daughter wants out of there.”

Felicity took several deep breaths. “Okay, I think I’m ready.” 

* * *

 

**Starling- Present**

After they got everything cleaned up, Oliver, Felicity and Megan drove back to Felicity’s house. Megan was very excited about all of her presents, but mostly Tiger and the toy bow and arrow that Tommy had gotten her. It was close to Megan’s bedtime, so she took a bath and got ready for bed. Both her parents came to tuck her in.

“Did you have a fun birthday?” Oliver asked.

“Yes. It was the best birthday ever!” She declared.

“I’m glad.” He said as he kissed her goodnight.

“Even better than last year?” Felicity challenged.

“Even better than last year. Because Daddy was home and I got a kitty! I got two of the best presents ever this year!” She said excitedly.

“Good.” She said with a smile as she kissed Megan on the forehead. “Get some sleep.”

Oliver and Felicity walked out of the room, hand-in-hand. Both were happy they’d gotten to have one nice, normal family day.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An attempted assassination leads to some unfortunate revelations.

The next night, Oliver was expecting patrol to be pretty quiet. He was still looking into the List and trying to figure out what the Undertaking was, and Felicity was still investigating Moira, but there was nothing they could do at the moment. He was standing on a rooftop, overlooking the city when Felicity asked a question over the comms.

“You hear that too, right?” She asked. “It sounds like-.”

“A helicopter.” He finished as they watched a helicopter, with no lights on it, land on a nearby roof.

“Landing in the middle of the night, with no lights on and barely any noise.” She described. “That doesn’t seem suspicious at all.”

“I’ll go see what that’s about.” He shot a repelling arrow onto the building and landed on the rooftop and crept towards the area where the helicopter had landed. He stayed hidden until seeing one person disembark. As soon as he was off, the helicopter flew away. Not seeing the point in skulking in the shadows, Oliver fired an arrow right in front of the man’s face.

“Great. A welcoming committee.” The unknown man remarked.

He took two knives out of his jacket and threw them at him. Oliver dodged out of the way, and fired another arrow. The man deflected it. Oliver tried to fight without kill the man, but he was going in for the kill. After landing a particularly hard kick at his chest, Oliver fired another arrow. It struck him directly in the heart and he fell to the ground.

“You okay?” Felicity asked him

“Sure, I love it when people throw knives at me.”

“Maybe he has a phone or something. I can pull data from it. I don’t know about you, but a guy sneaking into the city in the middle of the night, this armed, it screams hitman to me.”

“Me too.” He agreed before rifling through the man’s pockets. “That’s weird.”

“What is?”

“He was on the List. Guillermo Barrera.”

“All the more reason to bring his wallet and phone back to the foundry so I can figure out what’s happening.”

 

When Barrera missed his meeting with the Triad, Chien Na Wei had some of her men look into it and learned that he’d been killed by the city’s vigilante. Given that the Triad had already been paid for the hit he was supposed to perform, she arranged for Floyd Lawton, AKA Deadshot, to return to Starling. Perhaps he should’ve been her first choice to kill Malcolm Merlyn.

 

It took Felicity longer than she would’ve liked to hacked into Barrera’s phone. If she wasn’t trying to keep someone from getting killed, she might’ve been impressed by how well protected it was. It took her several hours, but she finally had a name. Malcolm Merlyn. She also learned who had put a hit out on him, and things didn’t look good. If the Triad wanted you dead, they found a way to kill you. She called Oliver and told him Malcolm was the target. The pair decided to stake out the Starling City Humanitarian of the Year ceremony that night.

“It’s weird right?”

“What is?” Oliver responded.

“Him winning this award. I’ll admit I don’t really know him, but something about him getting this award seems….out of place.” She said. “I mean, Megan likes most people, but he terrifies her. She’s always been scared of him and I can never figure out why.”

“I’m not sure what-.” Oliver was about to retort but then the power in the building went out.

 

Megan, who’d begged and pleaded to come to the fancy party, was standing next to Moira. When the lights went out, she grabbed her grandmother’s hand. “Grandma, why’s it so dark in here?”

“I don’t know. Someone must have-.”

Then, gunshots started. “I don’t like it here! I wanna go home!” The girl cried.

“Shh. I know you’re scared, but it’s going to be okay.” She said, trying to calm the girl.

“I want my mommy and daddy! Where are they?”

“Let’s go find them, okay?” She asked. The police had already arrived and were fighting off the Triad members disguised as waiters. “I want you to hold onto my hand as tight as you can, okay? I don’t want to lose you in the crowd.”

 

When the lights went out, Oliver ducked into the closet he was standing next to and changed into he Hood. When he stepped out, he moved forward to engage the Triad members who’d been disguised as waiters for the event. Malcolm took Tommy and ran upstairs. Oliver followed, hoping to keep them both safe from the hitmen. Felicity almost went with him, but she needed to make sure Megan was okay first. The SCPD arrived soon after, with some officers dealing with the foot soldiers while others ran upstairs hoping to catch the Hood. When they began clearing the civilians out, Felicity saw Moira and Megan run outside, so she snuck upstairs.

Oliver followed Malcolm and Tommy upstairs. He heard shots and began running faster. If the sniper was who he thought it was, a simple graze could kill Malcolm. he was standing a few feet away from Tommy. Malcolm was bleeding on the ground. Tommy had a gun pointed at Oliver, but his hands were shaking.

“The bullet barely hit him.” Tommy argued.

“The hitman laces his bullets with a deadly poison. There’s a way to save him.” He said calmly.” You need to give him some of your blood. He’s your father, you’re a compatible match. If clean blood gets into his system, it’ll buy enough time for an ambulance to get here.”

“Why should I trust you?”

Oliver glanced over to Felicity before making a decision. He reached up and lowered his hood. “Because you always have.”

“Olive- hey Tommy.” Felicity said awkwardly as she ran into the room. “I know, you’ve got questions. I did too, but if you wanna save your dad, you need to listen to Oliver.”

She talked Tommy through giving Malcolm a transfusion, but they had to leave when the police came upstairs. Felicity went outside and found Megan and Moira. She said she hadn’t seen Oliver, but thought he’d just left out of a different door when the police started evacuating the building. She called Oliver, in front of Moira and Megan, and told him to meet her at Queen Mansion.

When he was being questioned by Lance, Tommy denied knowing who the Hood was, saying he didn’t see his face. Oliver went back to the foundry and had to tell Digg that Deadshot was still alive, much to everyone’s disappointment. He took off his hood and drove to the mansion.

Megan was still awake when he reached his mother’s house. She hugged him as tightly as she could, telling him that she was really scared that the mean people who showed up had hurt him. He promised her that he was safe and apologized for scaring her. He and Felicity then drove Megan home.

It was nearing dawn when Tommy finally came to Felicity’s house looking for answers. He wanted to know if they were ever going to tell him the truth, they weren’t. He asked about all of the deaths Oliver had been blamed for. He admitted to the few deaths that had been on him, but informed him about the Dark Archer killing the others. Then, his best friend asked an interesting question.

“Does she know? Megan? Does she know what Daddy does? What her Mommy helps him do?”

“No, she doesn’t. She’s five, Tommy. Megan doesn’t know and she’s never going to. Because knowing could put her in danger and I can’t let that happen.” Felicity said. “And I only know because I figured it out by myself. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m very smart.”

 

While Tommy was getting answers, Malcolm asked Moira to visit him in the hospital. He ordered her to find the traitor in their midst who was trying to stop the Undertaking. She agreed to do it, while internally panicking about how to get out of this situation. She was also livid. She failed to convince Oliver and Felicity not to come to the Humanitarian Society event, or bring Megan. Moira might’ve reached out to the Triad, but she wasn’t any less angry that they could’ve killed her granddaughter.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Huntress returns, Megan has a fun day at preschool and Felicity explains a few things to Tommy.

A few days after the Deadshot tried to assassinate Malcolm Merlyn, things had calmed down somewhat. Megan wasn’t quite as jumpy. Moira seemed distracted by something, but told Oliver it was work related. Thea seemed to actually be starting to enjoy her community service at CNRI. The only real snag was Tommy, who seemed to be avoiding both Oliver and Felicity. They supposed he just needed some time to process.

The semblance of normalcy was shattered when an associate of Frank Bertinelli’s was found dead in a strip club. Felicity went searching for surveillance footage and found that Helena was back in town, much to everyone’s confusion.

“Why’s she- Frank’s in custody. What’s the point in her coming back now?” Oliver wondered.

“I don’t know, I just hope we find out soon.” Felicity responded.

He went to the mansion to see Thea and was shocked when he walked into the living room and saw Helena sitting on the couch talking to her. Clearly, she was trying to intimidate Oliver by reminding him that she knew his secret. He was just happy that Thea wasn’t watching Megan today. Helena asked to talk to him, and revealed that Frank had made a deal with the FBI to testify against an east coast family in exchange for witness protection. Helena was in town to kill him before he disappeared forever. She warned him not to get in her way. Oliver called Felicity and asked her to keep an especially close eye on what was happening with Frank’s transfer to witness protection.

 

The next morning, it was Oliver’s turn to drive Megan to school. The five-year-old was practically vibrating with excitement. Oliver looked in the rearview mirror and asked her what she was so excited about.

“I just am.” She said. He could tell she wasn’t telling him something, but didn’t press. What secrets could a five-year-old keep anyway? “I like school. I’m ‘cited to learn things.”

“You are just like Mommy.” He said with a chuckle.

“That’s what Grandma said! And Auntie Thea! And Uncle Tommy! And Mommy sometimes!”

“It’s a good thing.” He said. “I love Mommy and I love you.” He parked outside of the school and got out to unbuckle Megan. “Have a good day at school, okay? Behave and learn things.”

“I will. Bye Daddy!” She said as she ran towards the building.

Oliver was driving back to Felicity’s when she told him Helena had tried to intercept an early morning motorcade transporting Frank and that she’d been arrested by the police. Since she knew Oliver’s secret, the Hood had to break into the SCPD station, in broad daylight, and help her escape.

 

“Now, time for show and tell.” Megan’s teacher announced after she had everyone seated on the carpet. “Who’d like to go first?”

Megan’s hand shot up and waved in the air excitedly. She had a big grin on her face. “ME!”

“Ok, Megan, you can go first.” The teacher said, chuckling at her excitement.

She ran off to her cubby to get her bag, which she brought in front of the whole class. Suddenly, a thought crossed the teacher's mind. The memory of their little trip to the zoo and fiasco with the tiger cub. What if somehow she had gotten her hands on another one?

Megan put down her bag in front of the class, unzipped it, reached inside and pulled something out. It was moving. “This is my new pet I got for my birthday. Tiger.’ She said, holding her arm out.

The teacher nearly had a heart attack but calmed herself when she saw it was just a kitten, not another tiger cub. She let out a huge breath of relief.

“Wait! That's not a tiger, it's just a cat.” One boy said.

“Of course not, silly.” Megan said. “She's a kitten. Tiger is her name.”

The class “oooh'ed” in understanding. The kitten just looked around blinking cutely and licked her nose and meowed.

The other children began to get up to get a closer look at the kitten. They started to pet and stroke her.

“Now, children, let's not crowd Tiger. She's only little so one at a time.” The teacher said.

Megan told them all about Tiger and how she'd gotten the kitten for her birthday. One by one, the children all got a chance to see Tiger and stroke and pet her. At the end of her turn, she went to put Tiger back into her bag

“Um, Megan why don't we leave Tiger out?” Her teacher suggested, making a mental note to talk to her parents when they came to pick her up. “I’m sure she doesn’t like being in the dark.”

 

Felicity ended her phone call with Oliver. She’d discovered that someone had stolen a high-powered crossbow from a sporting goods store, thought it might be Helena and knew she needed to tell him. After hanging up, she spun around and gasped.

“Geez, Tommy! You can’t just sneak up on people like that.” She said.

“Sorry, I- I knocked but I guess you didn’t hear it.” He said sheepishly. “I was hoping you’re free for lunch. So we could talk. About….you-know-what.”

“Okay.” She said, grabbing her purse.

She and Tommy got into the elevator just as Helena walked out of a different elevator. The Huntress was hoping Felicity would help her find her father, after some persuasion, of course. She found Felicity’s office empty and turned to Plan B.

 

Tommy and Felicity were sitting in a small Tex-Mex restaurant down the street from QC. They’d ordered and now Felicity was waiting for Tommy to say something.

“So, you don’t- knowing what you know, it doesn’t bother you? What he’s done?”

“Well, that’s kinda a loaded question. Because I know he’s doing this because he feels he needs to. He decided on doing it before he even came home.” She said. “At the same time, I don’t like it. I’d like to think there was a better way or at least a different way to handle the people he’s confronted. On yet another hand, I don’t hate it either.”

“How can you not-?”

“Because when someone abducted you, him and Megan, he was able to get all three of you out of there safely. The guys that took you weren’t after the Hood, no one knew he even existed yet, they were after Oliver Queen. And his- what he does meant Megan was okay, just a little scared. And, if you notice, he doesn’t kill unless he has to.”

“That makes it better?”

“Yes. Killing in self-defense, or to defend another person, isn’t the same as just straight-up murder.” She said. “I know it’s a lot to take in.”

“It makes sense. It’s just- I can’t believe its Ollie, you know?”

“Yeah.” She agreed.

They ate lunch and left. Felicity went back to work. Oliver called her, telling her that Helena had killed a computer hacker in the Glades. The man had just gotten out of prison for hacking into the Department of Defense.

“She’s looking for the safehouse.” Felicity said in realization.

“What?”

“Helena’s trying to find the safehouse where Frank’s being held until he testifies.” She said. Her phone then buzzed saying she had another call. “Megan’s school is calling me. I’ll call you back.”

 

When Oliver and Felicity came to pick up Megan from preschool, they found her waiting outside for them with her teacher. She had something in her hands; It was Tiger.

“Megan, why do you have Tiger with you?”  Felicity asked.

“Brought her for show and tell.”

Felicity sighed. “You should have told us sweetie.”

“But I wanted it to be a surprise! I was gonna keep her in my bag.”

Oliver crouched down to Megan’s level “How would you feel if someone tried to put you in a cramped, dark bag?”

“But I told her she would be safe! That she had nothing to worry about.”

“Honey, cats don't understand what humans say.” Her mother said.

“Megan, remember how scared you were when those “mean men” tried to take you, me and your uncle Tommy away? That's how Tiger felt. She didn’t know what was going on.” Oliver explained softly.

The little girl looked down sadly “I’m sorry.”

“It's alright. You didn’t know, but you shouldn’t do that again.” Oliver said as he opened his arms to give Megan a big hug.

Before they left, Felicity spoke to her teacher. “I'm so sorry about that.”

“It's OK. I’m just glad it's a kitten this time and not another actual tiger. I nearly had a heart attack when she said Tiger.” The teacher said with a laugh. “I did want to talk to you about Megan’s development. She’s ahead of everyone. Have you given any thought to having her skip kindergarten?”

“I- Oliver and I need to discuss it.” She said before saying she’d think about it.

 

Felicity took Megan home while Oliver headed out to the safehouse where Frank was being held. By the time he arrived, Helena had already begun her attack. Most of the FBI agents and US Marshalls were dead or injured. He followed the destruction outside and found Helena holding Frank at crossbow-point. They began to fight, while Frank ran off. Oliver managed to disarm Helena, but before he could knock her out, McKenna ran over to them and demanded Oliver lower his bow and surrender. The distraction allowed Helena to pick up a discarded shotgun and shoot McKenna in the leg. She ran off while Oliver made a tourniquet to stop McKenna from bleeding out until back-up arrived.

Oliver made it back to the foundry. Frank had escaped. Helena had escaped. McKenna’s injury looked like it was going to take weeks, if not months, to heal. The last few days felt like a huge waste of time for everyone. Oliver was leaving, Verdant was closed, when a voice called out to him. It was Tommy.

“So, I talked to Felicity.” He started. “She helped me figure out a few things, and I got to hear a different perspective on your….little green secret.”

“Tommy, I’m glad you wanna talk, but tonight’s not-.”

“There’s something I need to tell you. It’s about what happened when that guy tried to kill my dad.” He said bluntly.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy tells Oliver what he saw, which puts an idea into the archer's head, and a new vigilante leads to the team discovering something startling.

Oliver was leaving, Verdant was closed, when a voice called out to him. It was Tommy.

“So, I talked to Felicity.” He started. “She helped me figure out a few things, and I got to hear a different perspective on your….little green secret.”

“Tommy, I’m glad you wanna talk, but tonight’s not-.”

“There’s something I need to tell you. It’s about what happened when that guy tried to kill my dad.” He said bluntly.

“Look, I’ll explain everything about the sniper and the full story, I just can’t right now. it’s been a tough day.”

“And you’re a bad listener.” His friend said. “I said I had something to tell you. I’m not asking for answers right now.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“The power cut out. Da- Malcolm grabbed me and pulled us both upstairs.”

“I remember.”

“Yeah, well, while you were downstairs, we ran into a few hitmen. He- I didn’t know he could fight like that, I mean, my dad’s intimidating, but not because he looks like he could kick your ass.” Tommy said. “I just stood there helpless while he fought them.”

“It’s not- instinct took over I guess.” Oliver justified.

“No, you aren’t listening to me, Ollie. My dad killed three of the would-be assassins with his bare hands. It didn’t even seem to bother him.” He stated. “This didn’t look like something he learned in a self-defense class. He fought-.”

“He fought what?”

“He fought like the Hood, like you. But how- who the hell is my dad?”

It was quiet in Verdant. “He went missing for two years after your mother’s death.”

“And?”

“And he could’ve spent that time learning how to fight.” He said. “It doesn’t matter right now. We don’t even know why someone wanted him dead. The sniper got away.”

“I think I just gave you a pretty good reason.”

“I know that, but- Tommy, please be careful. Don’t go looking for answers you aren’t sure you wanna find.” He said. Maybe Malcolm was involved in something dangerous. Maybe someone wanted to get rid of him for business reasons. In either case, he didn’t want Tommy in the crossfire. “But we’re gonna figure it out.”

With that being said, Oliver left Verdant and drove back to Felicity’s house. On the trip home, he pondered Tommy’s words. Malcolm killed three people without batting an eye. According to Tommy, he fought like Oliver. He couldn’t help but wonder what secrets Malcolm was hiding. Did he have something to do with Tempest or his mother’s Undertaking?

He came inside and walked through Felicity’s kitchen. He knew he should get some sleep, but he had a lot on his mind.

“What’s with the look?” Felicity asked from the living room, causing him to jump.

“Why are you awake?”

“Megan had a bad dream about the shooting at the humanitarian of the year ceremony. I got her to fall back asleep, but now I can’t sleep. I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“About Deadshot trying to kill Malcolm, Tommy stopped by Verdant.”

“Okay. Was he mad, because I tried to explain what I knew and he seemed less angry about keeping secrets-.”

“That’s not what he came to talk about. He wanted to tell me about what he saw. Mainly, Malcolm killing three of his would-be killers. With his bare hands.”

“Malcolm Merlyn did what?”

“Yeah. According to Tommy, his dad fights like me.”

“And you think this means something.”

“I think if my dad was involved in something terrible, there’s a chance his best friend would be too. I also think if Malcolm can fight like me, and I don’t think Tommy would lie, and he is involved with this whole Undertaking, then he might have a connection to the other archer.”

“You think he hired him?”

“I don’t know, but it seems like the closer we get to finding out what this Undertaking is, the more my mother or my father’s friends are involved.”

“Mommy?” Megan asked quietly from the doorway of Felicity’s room. She was clutching her teddy bear and looking into the living room where her parents were.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?”

“I woke up and you weren’t there.” She said. “I had ‘nother bad dream.”

“I’m sorry.” She said, holding her arms out to hug Megan, who ran towards her. “Daddy and I were talking and we didn’t wanna wake you up.”

“S’okay.”

“What happened in your dream?” Oliver asked, taking a seat next to Felicity.

“I was with Grandma and the lights went out. Then, I heard all these scary noises and mean men want to take me away. I didn’t wanna go, so I ran away, but even after I ran away, I couldn’t find you or Mommy.” She explained. “And then I woke up and I couldn’t find you and-.”

“It was just a dream, Megan.” Felicity said. “Because Daddy and I are never gonna let that happen.”

“Never ever?”

“Never ever ever.” She promised. “No matter what happens, we’ll find you.” She stood up, moving them both off the couch. “Let’s get you back to bed, okay?”

“You’ll stay?”

“Of course.”

“Can Daddy stay too?” Megan asked.

“I’m gonna put on my PJs and I’ll be right there.” Oliver said.

He changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt before going into Felicity’s room. Megan was still awake, but snuggled up against Felicity’s side. Oliver got settled on his daughter’s other side before turning the lights off. Within a few minutes, he could hear Megan snoring lightly.

 

Oliver had to pause his investigation into Malcolm and his mother when, the following day, a vigilante calling himself the Savior kidnapped a slumlord and killed him live on the internet for his crimes against the Glades. He asked Felicity to track down the Savior’s website, but she struggled to do so at first. She managed to track the signal the next time he went live, and sent Oliver to that location, but by the time he arrived, the signal had moved. She couldn’t figure out how the Savior managed to move his victims so quickly while also not catching anyone’s attention.

The Savior went live again the next night, and Felicity became frantic. “We need to find him, now.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you suddenly frantic?” Oliver asked.

“Did you not see who that was?”

“A kid in a red hoodie.”

“That “kid”, his name is Roy. He’s Thea’s maybe-boyfriend. We can’t just let him die.” She said.

“I’ll see what Thea knows. Maybe she saw something, or he mentioned someone. You try and trace that signal.” He said as he walked out of the lair.

While Felicity was poring over the videos of previous kills, Digg realized he recognized a sound in the background. It was the steady rhythm of a subway car. The Savior was using the old subway as his base of operations. That’s how he was able to move his victims so quickly without being noticed. Knowing that, Felicity was able to guide Oliver to Roy and the Savior’s location, saving the younger man.

When Oliver came back to the foundry, however, he didn’t seem pleased about how things had turned out. Felicity asked why. He saved Roy, he managed to stop the Savior. Why did he act like he’d failed? She asked him exactly that.

“I know what the drawing in my father’s book is.”

“You do?” Digg asked.

“Pull up a map of the subway.” He said, and Felicity did exactly that. “Now, zoom in so that its just the Glades.” She zoomed in like he asked. The map that appeared was identical to the drawing on the inside cover of Robert’s notebook. “The Undertaking, whatever it is, it has something to do with the Glades. My mom, the Dark Archer, Malcolm Merlyn, they’re gonna do something to the Glades.”


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Arrow tries to put the pieces together about Malcolm and the Undertaking, while Tommy asks for a favor and Felicity remembers the first time she was introduced to Tommy.

“The Undertaking, whatever it is, it has something to do with the Glades. My mom, the Dark Archer, Malcolm Merlyn, they’re gonna do something to the Glades.” Oliver told John and Felicity.

“And I don’t suppose you know what that “something” is yet.” Felicity said.

“If I did, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time just crossing names off of a list.” He scoffed. “I knew it couldn’t have been-.”

“If the next words out of your mouth involve you putting yourself down or blaming yourself, I’m gonna slap you.” She said. “It’s a list of names with no context. It could’ve been the invite list for his 50th birthday for all you knew. Instead of sitting here and feeling sorry for yourself, let’s get to the bottom of this.”

“Malcolm and your mother wanna do something to the Glades. Any idea what that might be?” Digg asked. “Or what their motives might be?”

“Rebecca was murdered in the Glades.”

“What?”

“Rebecca Merlyn, Tommy’s mom. She was killed during a mugging in the Glades.” Oliver said. “And then Malcolm vanished for two years. And he was different.”

“So, you think he’s gonna, what, kill everyone in the Glades for what happened.”

“I don’t know. The scariest part is, what you just said is terrifying, but I can’t say he definitely wouldn’t do it.” Oliver admitted.

“So, we keep digging.” John said.

“I don’t know about you, but I can’t dig until tomorrow.” Felicity said, standing up. “It’s past Megan’s bedtime, and I told Thea I was gonna pick her up over an hour ago. I’ll leave some programs running though.”

Oliver said goodnight to John and followed Felicity out of the foundry. They got into her car and drove towards the mansion. Oliver couldn’t help but spend the entire ride thinking about how wrong he’d been about Malcolm and his own father. He really didn’t know anyone in his family, did he? On top of that, he was worried about Tommy.

“Why the long face? Well, I know why, but that’s a very specific “I’m worried about something” face and not just a general look of concern.” Felicity said.

“I’m worried about Tommy. He told me about Malcolm, what he did. I asked him to not dig any further. If he stumbles upon the wrong thing, learns something he’s not supposed to, I don’t know what Malcolm will do.”

“You think Malcolm will hurt his own son?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been able to get a read on him. Especially since I got back. If its about revenge, if that’s why he’s gonna do whatever he’s been planning, I don’t know how much he’ll care about what it does to Tommy.”

“I’ll try talking to him. He’s understandably conflicted about you right now, he seems less conflicted about me. Maybe I can convince him not to do anything reckless.” She offered. “Megan doesn’t wanna lose her Uncle Tommy after all.”

“Speaking of “Uncle Tommy”, I know how you met Mom, Thea and Laurel, but how did you meet Tommy?” Oliver asked.

 “Well, I first met him when I was at your funeral. He was trying to hit on me. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed.”

Oliver winced. “That… sounds like Tommy.”

“But we didn't officially meet until he came to the mansion one day.”

“That sounds like it was awkward.”

“It was very awkward for Tommy.”

* * *

 

**2007**

Tommy walked up to the front door of Queen mansion. He had found out from Laurel and Thea that Oliver had gotten a girl pregnant before he left on the Gambit. Tommy had made up his mind that he wanted to meet this girl. After all, she was carrying the last piece of Oliver they had left.

He was met by Thea at the front door. She led him into living room where Moira was sitting with a blonde-haired woman who had her back to him. 

“Felicity, this is a friend of Oliver’s, Tommy Merlyn.” Thea said, introducing him.

Felicity stood up, thinking that that name sounded familiar to her and turned to face him. Her eyes widened upon seeing him.

“YOU!” She said.

Tommy's jaw dropped as he suddenly remembered her from the funeral. “Uh oh.” He said, swallowing.

“You already know Tommy?” Thea asked.

“Yes, we met at Oliver's funeral. Where he was trying to score by hitting on me. His best friend’s funeral.” Tommy winced.

“Tommy Merlyn, how could you? At Oliver’s funeral of all places.” Moira said, standing up and crossing her arms.

“Ah- um- well, Oliver wouldn’t have minded.”

“And you think that's an excuse?”

There was a long silence after that. “Well, you look....” Tommy started to tell Felicity. She gave him a murderous glare, daring him to finish that sentence. “GREAT. You look great.” He wanted to make a run for the door.

“That was almost believable.” She said crossing her arms. “What are you holding behind your back?”

Tommy remembered that he was holding one arm behind him, hiding something. “Oh, I- uh- babies need stuff, right? Like clothes and toys and stuff. Anyway, when I found out Ollie had gotten a girl pregnant, I- this is for the baby.” He said as he showed her what was in his hand.

Felicity took the stuffed bear from him gently. She ran one hand through the fur, feeling how soft it was. “You got the baby a present?”

“Well, I- was I not supposed to do that?” He looked helplessly to Thea and Moira. The last time he saw a pregnant woman, Moira was about to have Thea. He didn’t know how this worked. Was there some unspoken rule he’d broken or something?

“No, it’s just-.” She sniffled. “It was really thoughtful.”

“Ok, glad you like it. I’ll see you later.” He said as he practically sprinted out of the room.

* * *

 

**Present**

“Sounds like you were about ready to kill him.” Oliver remarked, glad he wasn't there for that. “And then hug him. It must’ve been scary for Tommy.”

“Yeah. I think that was my hormones.” She said as she pulled into the mansion’s driveway.

They went inside and found Megan asleep in one of the guest bedrooms. Oliver picked her up and carried her out to the car, buckling her in. When they reached Felicity’s house, he carried her into her room and tucked her into bed. The preschooler stirred slightly and whispered “good night Daddy” before going back to sleep.

 

The next day passed quickly with Megan going to preschool, Felicity at work and Oliver in the foundry trying to find something that connected Moira, Malcolm and the other names on the List, while also trying to work out what exactly their endgame must be.

Oliver ate dinner with his girlfriend and daughter, and was about to leave for a night of Arrowing, as Felicity called it, when he got a call from Tommy.

“I need a favor. A huge favor. Well, I don’t, Laurel does.” He said quickly. “One of her clients was murdered. They were trying to sue the guy that conned them. She was watching over their son, the only survivor of the attack, when someone broke into her apartment and tried to kill him too. He’s a six-year-old boy Oliver.”

“Get Laurel, and the boy in the car. Drive to the mansion. We’ll meet you there.” He told him before turning to Felicity. He gave her the gist of what was going on, and suggested they spend a night at the mansion. Felicity packed a bag for herself and Megan, and led her daughter to the car. Oliver, meanwhile, called Digg to tell him what was going on. John said he needed to meet with “an old friend” who might have a lead on Deadshot, but would head to the mansion when he was done.

“Why are we going to Grandma’s?” The girl asked her mother.

“Laurel’s looking after a little boy and Daddy suggested you two could play together, since grown-ups aren’t very much fun to play with.” Felicity answered. “Uncle Tommy’s gonna be there too.”

Megan seemed to accept that answer, and the trio drove to Queen Mansion. Tommy, Laurel and Taylor, the boy they were watching, pulled up right behind them. They all made their way inside and Megan introduced herself to Taylor before asking if he wanted to play a game. He shrugged before following her. Felicity went with them.

“I’m sorry about this Ollie.” Laurel said.

“Don’t be. After what you did for Thea, I owe you one.” He said.

“This place has better security than the White House.” Tommy said. “Here, with Oliver, it’s the safest place in the city.”

Felicity got a lead on Edward Rasmus, the criminal Taylor’s parents had been trying to sue, which she passed on to Oliver. He snuck out and confronted Rasmus, leaving him with a warning to confess or face his wrath. He turned himself in to the SCPD within the hour and confessed to everything.

Oliver went back to the mansion. When he came inside, Felicity told him that Digg’s “meeting” was a bust, since his friend wouldn’t give him any information about Deadshot, as her agency was trying to arrest him. Oliver swore that once Taylor was safe, which should be in a few days, he’d help Digg stop Deadshot permanently.

Oliver found Megan and Taylor playing Connect Four in one of the sitting rooms, with Tommy watching them. He took a seat next to his friend and watched the kids play for a while. Tommy saw his frown.

“Oliver, come on.” He said. “I understand the looks at Billy but this was your idea, letting them play together.”

“I know, and now I’m starting to regret it.” He answered. He wanted to keep his daughter safe from boys like himself. Was that so wrong?

“Daddy, do you wanna play?” Megan asked, not understanding what the two adults were talking about.

“No, that’s okay.” He said. “I think its time for bed though.”

Megan grumbled, but followed her father upstairs to change into her PJs and brush her teeth. Felicity was brushing her daughter’s hair out when Laurel found Tommy and Oliver and told them about Rasmus’s arrest and confession. She wanted to leave, but Oliver argued that Taylor had been through a lot and needed to get some rest. Tommy sided with him and she caved.

An hour later, Laurel and Tommy were checking on Taylor when the lights went out. Felicity, using her phone as a flashlight, came down the hallway and made sure they were okay.

“It’s probably just a blown fuse.” She told them. “Oliver went to check it out. Stay here with Taylor.”

“If it’s just a blown fuse, why-?” Laurel started to ask.

“It’s a big house. If he wakes up and can’t find you, and its dark, he might get lost.” She reasoned. Tommy could see in Felicity’s eyes that she didn’t believe what she was saying. He decided not to call her out on it though.

They went into the guest room. Oliver came down the hall as the door closed. He kicked the doorknob off before telling Felicity to stay with Megan and doing the same to the door of that room. With Tommy. Laurel, Felicity and both children safe, he moved down the hallway.

There was a yell and then a thud from the foyer. The hitman was here. Oliver walked down the hallway. Hairs on the back of his neck started to stand up and he ducked out of the way just in time to miss being shot in the head by the hitman who was hiding in the shadows. They began fighting in the entryway. Oliver was able to match the hitman’s fighting skill, much to the other man’s surprise. The hitman reclaimed his gun and was about to shoot Oliver, so Oliver stabbed him in the heart with fireplace poker he’d been defending himself with.

The police arrived a few minutes later and Oliver claimed one of the dead security guards saved him by killing the hitman. He then went upstairs to tell everyone that everything was okay. Surprisingly, and thankfully, both kids had slept through the whole ordeal.

“See? I told you this place was the safest place in the city for us.” Tommy told Laurel, looking intently at Oliver. “Thanks to Mr. Robbins.”


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Tommy talk about a few things, and their conversation motivates Oliver to finish something he started weeks ago.

Once the hitman and the bodies of the dead guards were taken away, and the police cleared out of the mansion, Oliver went looking for Felicity. Not only did he want to make sure she and Megan were okay, but he also wanted to discuss security improvements for the mansion. The hitman had been able to knock out the power and killed several guards; Oliver didn’t want the same thing to possibly happen again. Felicity said she’d start working on something in the morning, given that it was rather late.

As soon as Oliver left Megan’s room, he came across Tommy. It was easy to see on his friend’s face that he wanted to talk about something with Oliver. Knowing he couldn’t just ask, he asked Tommy if he wanted a drink, since they’d had a rough night. He nodded and followed his friend to Robert’s old office.

“Its kinda weird being in here.” Tommy remarked as he looked around. “No one’s stepped foot inside this room for five years, except one of the maids to clean it.” He walked over to the desk, which still had papers scattered on it. Things Robert was going to handle after he returned from China. “It’s also weird coming here and not seeing Walter. Do you think-?”

“I don’t know if he’s alive or not. I hope he is, but- Felicity thinks she got him killed.”

“Why would she think that?”

“Walter brought her a mystery to solve. I didn’t know until Christmas that he’d asked for her help, and she didn’t know until then that Walter’s mystery is connected to what I’ve been doing.” Oliver admitted. “The night she told me was the night he went missing.”

“Do I get to know what the mystery is?”

“Most of the people I confront aren’t random. Their names are on a list I found after my father’s death. Walter, somehow, found a copy of the same list. At first I thought it was just a list of names, no connection between them, but after he disappeared-.”

“You think it might be something bigger.” Tommy finished. “Is my dad- do you think my dad has something to do with it?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“You’re looking for him, though, right? Walter?” Oliver nodded. “And you believe me, about my dad? About what happened?”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t lie about something like that.” He said. “You didn’t confront your dad about it though, right?”

“I’ve been going out of my way to not be in the same building as him for years. I’m not gonna start now.”

“Good, because I don’t want you to put yourself in danger. I’m not saying you’re going to get hurt, but its possible. And Megan won’t be happy if something happens to her Uncle Tommy.” He added at the end for some levity.

“You could get hurt too, you know.”

“I’ve survived a lot.” He said. They finished their drinks in silence before going to bed.

 

The next morning, Megan was up bright and early. She wanted both of her parents to wake up so that they could have breakfast. The preschooler had convinced Raisa to make them all some of her famous chocolate chip pancakes, but the housekeeper said she needed to wait for her parents before she could eat them. After some whining and jumping on the bed, Oliver and Felicity told their daughter they were awake and would be right down for breakfast. Five minutes later, the girl was digging into her sugary pancakes. Felicity asked her daughter if she slept okay.

“I did, but I had a funny dream.” She answered in between bites.

“Really? What happened?” Felicity believed Megan had slept through the ordeal with the hitman, but wasn’t sure. She hoped Megan hadn’t dreamed about anything related to hearing gunshots or the sounds of fighting.

“Tiger and I were in a field and we were playing and Mommy was there, but her hair looked funny. And Uncle Tommy kept throwing water balloons at Aunt Thea and-.” Megan went on for several minutes about her funny dream.

They drove Megan to preschool before going their separate ways. Oliver went to the foundry to change and find a new target while Felicity went to work. Remembering his conversation with Tommy the previous night, Oliver began going through the List. Walter had been abducted by someone who knew what they were doing, and there was more than one person on the List who had the skills to do that. He was able to narrow the options down to three people, and texted Felicity, asking her to find out what she could about all three men.

She called him ten minutes later and told him that one of the names he’d given her, Dominic Alonzo, had been paid two million dollars the same day Walter went missing. She dug further into him and found the location of the underground casino he owned. If she could get into Alonzo’s computer, they might be able to find Walter that same day.

Oliver and Digg were both unhappy with the plan she came up with, but it was the only one with a chance of working. The best way for Felicity to gain access to Alonzo’s computer was to get caught for counting cards, be taken to his office and plant a bug on his computer. Neither John nor Oliver were happy about sending her into an illegal casino, alone, but they also didn’t have a better suggestion.

Felicity went to the casino. As planned, she was caught for counting cards and taken to Alonzo’s office. She planted the bug and was being escorted out when the owner removed her earpiece, crushing it and causing Oliver to panic. He stormed his way into the casino to rescue her. He was able to disarm the man and interrogated him about Walter. Alonzo told them Walter was dead, that he’d been killed moments after he delivered him to the person that paid him.

They left the casino and Oliver went to the mansion. He told his mother and sister that a friend of Digg’s received news about Walter. He didn’t even need to say the words for Thea to break down. Moira, meanwhile, was denial and insisted there was a mistake, that the FBI had the wrong person. She then stormed out when he tried to comfort her. After telling Thea he needed to talk to their mother, he followed her, as the Hood.

Moira went to Merlyn Global Group and stormed into Malcolm’s office. Using a surveillance arrow, he overheard Malcom confirm Walter was alive right after Moira admitted that she knew Malcolm had kidnapped Walter to make sure she complied with the Undertaking. Oliver was so shocked by this turn of events that he nearly missed the next thing Malcolm said.

“As I told you, the Markov Device is almost completed. Once the final test is done, it’ll be on its way here. In a week, this will all be over and you’ll have Walter back.”

Oliver immediately called Felicity to have her trace the call Malcolm had made. This led him to a tenement complex with unreasonably high security. He broke in and fought all of the guards, rescuing Walter. He delivered Walter to the hospital to be checked out before going back to the foundry. He figured it would take the staff about an hour to look Walter over before calling his family to tell them he'd been found. The archer needed that time to think.

He called Tommy, telling him they really needed to talk about his dad. Oliver didn’t want Tommy involved in his mission, but his best friend deserved to know what was going on.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver finally tells Tommy what's really going on, Megan reunites with someone she's missed a lot and the Hood confronts Moira again.

Despite Oliver having called him at three A.M., Tommy made it to Verdant surprisingly quickly. Oliver met him by the bar and led him down to the foundry. Tommy had been under the impression that the basement of the building was flooded, but he supposed having it be Oliver’s top-secret vigilante lair made even more sense than it being flooded.

“So, I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that, whatever you need to talk to me about, its not good. I mean, you wouldn’t call me at three A.M. for nothing.”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t.” Oliver said. “We found Walter.”

“That’s great. Is he- wait, he’s alive, right?”

“Yes, he’s alive. I just dropped him off at Starling General.” He said. “Malcolm had kidnapped him, and my mother was perfectly aware of who was keeping him captive.”

“Your mom knew- why would she do that?” Tommy asked in disbelief. “I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but-.”

“I didn’t either, but I heard them talking about it. And she’d do that because our parents aren’t good people. Except your mother.” He said. “They’re involved in very horrible things.”

“Horrible how?”

“The Queen’s Gambit didn’t go down in a storm, it was sabotaged. I don’t know by who or why, but I’m guessing it has something to do with what the Dark Archer who attacked last Christmas called the Undertaking.”

“That sounds….ominous.”

“Because it is. They’re gonna use some device, I don’t know what it is yet, to destroy the Glades. And I’m pretty sure it was your dad’s idea.”

Tommy exhaled slowly. “Of course, it is. My mom was killed by random chance in the Glades. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but why wouldn’t he try to destroy the thousands of people who live there and had nothing to do with her death?” He said. “Wait, back-up a second. The Gambit was sabotaged?”

“Yup. I think my father was involved in the plan to destroy the Glades. Maybe he changed his mind and tried to back out. I don’t know, I’ll never know, but he didn’t seem shocked when the boat started sinking, and he asked me to right his wrongs.”

“I thought your dad drowned and you were the only one who made it to the life raft.”

“He pulled me onto the raft. After drifting for a few days, he realized we didn’t have enough food for both of us, so he killed himself so I’d live.” Oliver revealed, staring at the floor. “That’s why I’ve done what I’ve done. Because I need to right his wrongs and honor his sacrifice.”

“Oliver, I-.” Tommy realized he had no idea what to say. “So, my dad probably killed your dad, and wants to kill everyone in the Glades. Do you know how he’s gonna do that?”

“Not yet. When he met with my mother, he mentioned something called a Markov Device. He also said that in a week, it would be over.”

‘A week? That seems…nevermind.”

“No, what is it?”

“Three weeks from yesterday is the anniversary of my mom’s death. Since, in his twisted mind, he’s doing this for her, I half-expected him to do this on the anniversary.” He said. “But, you can’t apply logic to crazy people I guess.”

“Maybe.” Oliver’s phone then rang. It was Moira calling him to tell him Walter had been found and rescued. “I need to go see Walter.”

“Wait, do you- I can try to find out what my dad’s planning. He came to me a few days ago, talking about reconnecting. I can maybe-.”

“No. You could get hurt. It’s too much of a risk.” He said. “I just-.”

“Ollie, I’m not some idiot kid anymore. I’m not gonna storm up to my dad and demand answers. I’ll do some snooping, find out what I can and tell you.”

“It’s still a big risk, and I don’t want you to get hurt for my mission.” He said. “As soon as you get even the slightest hint he knows, you need to drop it.’

“How are you gonna find out exactly what his plan is though?”

“Easy. I’m gonna have a little chat with my mother.” He said before walking out of the foundry.

 

When Oliver arrived at the hospital, Moira and Thea were already in his room. He exited the elevator right as Felicity and Megan walked out of a different one.

“Daddy! Grandpa Walter came back!” Megan exclaimed.

“I know. Are you excited to see him?”

“Uh-huh. I missed him lots.” She said. “Do you think he missed me?”

“I know he did.” Felicity told her. “When we go see him, I want you to be careful. He might have an upset tummy or some boo-boos. You can hug him, but not too tight, okay?”

“Okay.” She said. She took her mother’s hand and walked towards the hospital room. They walked inside and Megan ran over to the bed to hug Walter. “I missed you this much.” She told him, holding her arms out wide.

“I missed you even more.” He told her. “I’m very sorry I missed your birthday.”

“It was really fun. There was a bounce house, and a petting zoo and lots of candy. Guess what Mommy and Daddy got me?” She asked. He didn’t have time to answer before she continued. “A kitty. Her name is Tiger and she’s orange. She’s not a real tiger though. Just a normal cat. Mommy said I couldn’t bring her here.”

“Grandpa Walter can meet Tiger after he goes home, okay?” Felicity said.

“Okay.” She said sadly. “I also got to go to a fancy party with Grandma!” She then told Walter about everything that happened, to her at least, since the last time she saw him.

 

They stayed for about an hour before deciding to let Walter get some rest. Megan fell asleep on the ride home, giving Oliver and Felicity some time to talk. Oliver told her he’d told Tommy about the Undertaking, and Malcolm’s involvement, before saying he needed to talk to his mother.

“Last time you did that, she shot you.” Felicity pointed out.

“This time, she’s not gonna get the chance.” He said.

He and Digg worked out how they’d do things. Diggle, as the vigilante, would kidnap Moira and Oliver and question them about the Undertaking, using Oliver as leverage to make his mother cooperate. Felicity wasn’t happy about the idea, but told both of them to be careful and warned Digg to pull his punches.

The following night, Oliver came over to the mansions to talk to his mother. He claimed he noticed she’d been acting weird lately and wanted to know why she was so on edge. She tried to wave him off, but he pressed on. Halfway through her trying to say she couldn’t involve him, the lights cut out. Oliver and Moira were then knocked out by a tranquilizer arrow shot by Diggle.

He took them to a warehouse and tied them both up. After a period of time, Moira started to stir. Oliver pretended to be waking up from the tranquilizer as well. “Mom?” Moira looked up at him and tried to stand up before realizing she was tied to the chair. “Mom? Are you okay?”

“Oliver? We- we gotta get out of here.”

“Moira Queen, you have failed this city.” The Hood said, stepping out of the shadows.

“Please, do not hurt my son.”

“Tell me what the Undertaking is and I won’t have to.” Digg responded. She didn’t answer, so Digg punched him in the face. “Tell me!”

“Please,” she begged, “leave my son alone.”

“What is Malcolm Merlyn planning?”

“I can’t tell you! He’ll kill me, he’ll kill my family.”

“You should be worried about what I’ll do.” Digg said as he hit Oliver hard enough to knock his chair over.

“No! Malcolm is planning to level the Glades! He said so he can rebuild it but-.”

“How?”

“There’s a device. He says it will cause an earthquake.”

“How is this possible?”

“I don’t know. it was invented by Unidac Industires. Malcolm used my company’s Applied Sciences to turn it into a weapon.”

“Why would you get involved in something like this?”

“My husband…he got involved without my knowing. He was just trying to do some good. he was lost. He- his decisions left me vulnerable to Malcolm and I had no choice. I had to protect my family.”

“This device, where is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“If you don’t tell me, I can’t stop Merlyn!”

Moira let out a humorless chuckle. “Oh, you can’t stop him. it’s too late.” Diggle nodded once before taking a step towards Oliver. “No, no, no, I told you everything!” Instead of attacking Oliver, he used an arrow to cut his bonds. Then, he cut Moira’s and left.

Oliver stood up and coughed. His mother tried to help him up, but he moved away from her.

“Please, I know what you must be thinking, but I never intended for any of this to happen. You know I would never willingly be a part of anything like this.”

“I don’t know anything anymore.” He said before walking away. He called Felicity and asked her to find out everything she could about Unidac Industries. Last night, Malcolm said the device wasn’t completed yet. They still had some time to stop him.


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Arrow inches closer to learning everything they need to stop Malcolm, and gets help from an unexpected source.

Oliver made it back to the foundry a few moments before John did. Felicity had been sitting on her computer but looked up when she heard footsteps. She made a beeline for Oliver, and reached out to cup his face.

“I thought you said you were going to pull your punches.” She remarked to Digg.

“I did!”

“I’m fine. We found out what my mom and Malcolm Merlyn are up to. He plans on leveling the Glades with a device that triggers a man-made earthquake.”

“A man-made earthquake to level the Glades. Using tech, lovely, amazing tech, to kill people and make it seem like an act of God. I think I might know who sabotaged your father’s yacht.” She remarked. “Any idea where he’s getting one of those from?”

“Queen Consolidated. We bought Unidac Industries. My mother explicit said this is exactly why.” He answered. “But the device- when I overheard Mom and Malcolm talking about Walter, they said it wasn’t done yet. it’s going into the last stage of testing.”

“So, we still have time to stop him, them, this.” She said hopefully.

“Not much. At the time, he said a week, which means now we have six days.” He said.

“That’s better than hearing we have less than one.” She said. “I’ll see what I can find out but-.”

“But what?”

“People who plan stuff like this, they tend to be paranoid. I’ll try to hack into Merlyn Global’s system but-.”

“But what?”

“I might not be able to do it remotely.” She admitted.

“You might not need to.” He said. “Find out if you can. I’ll deal with the rest.” He went to leave.

“Put some ice on your face.”

“Why?”

“Because our very curious five-year-old is gonna wanna know why you have boo-boos on your face, and you can’t tell her it was the Hood.”

“Why not?”

“Because the Hood is her hero and I’m not letting you ruin that image for her.” Felicity said. “Put some ice on your face.”

Oliver grabbed an ice pack and held it against his cheek. He couldn’t argue with Felicity’s logic and he really didn’t want to ruin Megan’s belief that he was a hero. She was too young to understand that sometimes good people had to do bad things. As Felicity tried to hack into Merlyn Global, Oliver debated whether what he was about to do was the right move. He supposed he should at least give it a shot.

“Hey,” he said after the person he called picked up, “I was hoping to talk to you. it’s about something important. Yeah, meet me at Verdant.”

“Who was that?” John asked.

“Tommy.”

“I thought you didn’t want him involved in this.”

“I didn’t. I don’t, but he was the one who told me about Merlyn’s fighting skills, which is why we were investigating him. I tried to tell him I’d handle it, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“I see why you two became friends. You’re both stubborn.”

“Maybe, but if Felicity can’t find a way into Merlyn Global-.”

“You want him to do it? Does he know what to do? What to look for?”

“I guess we’ll find out.” He remarked.

 

Tommy arrived in the foundry and came downstairs. Since this was the second time in two days that he’d been called here late at night, he was starting to understand why Oliver used a nightclub as his cover, and not something with normal business hours. He saw Felicity furiously typing away on her keyboard.

“if both of you are here, who’s watching Megan?” He knew that wasn’t the most important question to ask, but it slipped out. He’d been wondering for a while how exactly Felicity managed to be Oliver’s partner while also not leaving her daughter completely alone at night.

“Megan was so excited that her Grandpa Walter was back that she insisted she have a sleepover at Moira’s. She doesn’t really know where he went, so she thinks if she stays close to him, he won’t leave without saying goodbye again.”

“And what about all of the other-?”

“Everything digital I do here, I can do from my house.” She answered. “I don’t think Oliver called you to discuss how I’m his tech support.”

“You’re not. You’re my partner.”

“Focus, please.” Digg said.

Oliver took a deep breath and looked at Tommy. “I need- I finally got some answers out of my mother. Real answers.”

“You asked her what her secret plan with my dad was and she actually told you?”

“Not exactly. He had to trick her and make her think they’d been kidnapped by the Hood, so-.” Felicity started.

Oliver cut in. “How she told me doesn’t matter. Your father’s going to level the Glades using a device that triggers a man-made earthquake. He made my mother have QC buy the company that patented the device and in less than a week-.”

“He’s gonna use it to kill everyone and everything in the Glades.” Tommy finished. “That’s good to know, but I don’t think that’s why you called me.”

“We don’t know where he’s going to use it. Or how the device works. I’m sure he’s got blueprints, schematics and the like somewhere, but we haven’t been able to find that information.”

“We think it might be on one his company’s servers.” Felicity said.  “I’ve been trying to hack in but-.”

“You can’t. My dad’s crazy about his files being secure. I guess this explains why. Anyway, I heard him bragging to Ted Kord a year ago saying the only way into his files was access the mainframe directly.”

“Yeah….” Felicity said awkwardly. “I kinda….need you to help me get into Merlyn Global so I can go to the secure server room on the 25th floor and find out everything he knows.”

“You want me to help you break into my family’s company?” Tommy repeated. He then grinned. “And you always told me you weren’t any fun. I can’t get you to that floor without raising alarms, but I can help you get inside.”

“Works for us.”

A few years ago, at Felicity’s urging, Tommy had decided to open a charity named after his mother. The focus of it was to bring medication and healthcare to people in the Glades who wouldn’t have access to it otherwise. He reasoned that, while he couldn’t reopen the clinic she started when she was alive, it didn’t mean her philanthropy should die with her. Malcolm, in an effort to both get good publicity and pacify his son, didn’t stop Tommy and offered him an office in Merlyn Global’s headquarters to work out of. Tommy rarely used the office, but it did give him access to the building, and no one would question him being there, or Oliver and Felicity stopping by to visit.

As planned, the next day, Oliver and Felicity went to the office to meet with Tommy around noon. Digg was disguised as a new security guard and knocked his “partner” out after they’d gotten into the elevator. The car stopped on the 24th floor. They exited out of the top of the elevator and Oliver pulled out a grappling hook arrow, shooting it at the floor they needed to get to.

“Hold on to me tight.” He told Felicity.

“I imagined you saying that under very different circumstances.”

“Is now really the time for this?” John asked over the comms.

“Right. Sorry.” She said as she held onto Oliver. They flew upwards to the 25th floor and he was able to open the door to the elevator shaft. He walked Felicity to the server room before turning to leave for his meeting with Tommy.

“Wait, stay.”

“If I stay-.”

“If you stay, and we get caught, we can pass it off as us wanting some….alone time.” She said. “Better than if I get found up here alone.”

“I’ll be one floor below you.” He said. “It’ll be fine.”

He went back down to the elevator and walked to Tommy’s office. They talked for a little while, but his focus was on Felicity and Digg reporting in on the comm.

Digg was watching everything unfold on the monitors and saw a guard was ahead of schedule on the rotation. “Felicity-.”

“Just a few more seconds.” She said as she typed.

“You don’t have a few more seconds. Someone’s coming.” Digg said. “Oliver, she’s gonna get made.”

Oliver stood up from his seat in front of Tommy’s desk abruptly. “I need to go. Felicity’s-”

“Don’t explain. Just go.” He said, “Anything I can do to help?”

“Wait thirty seconds, then come upstairs and act like you’ve been looking for us.” He yelled over his shoulder.

Thanks to Oliver’s acrobatic skills, he was able to make it to the 25th floor and into the server room before the guard. reached them. He gave his girlfriend an apologetic look before they heard the door open.

“What are you two doing up here?!” A voice yelled. They turned to see a security guard. “This is a restricted area. Let’s see some ID.”

“No need for that, Joe.” Tommy said, strolling over to them. “They came here to see me. What are you doing up here?”

“Looking for your office.” Felicity nudged Oliver. “I thought you said his office was on the 25th floor.”

“I could’ve sworn that’s what he said.’

“Nope. I’m on 24.” He said. “Let’s go.” The guard let them pass and didn’t even stop to wonder how they’d managed to accidentally get onto the secure floor. “You get everything you need?”

“I made a copy of everything I could find on the servers, so I really hope so.”

They left the building and returned to the foundry where Felicity wrote a program to go through all of the data she’d copied.


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Arrow, and Tommy, narrow down a few details about the Undertaking.

Felicity and Oliver sat in the foundry going through all of the data from Merlyn Global’s mainframe. There was a ton to go through, so they knew it was going to take a lot of time. The amount of security around the files was impressive. Malcolm had protected files in folders inside of folders inside of folders on encrypted drives.

“You know, if he wasn’t trying to level the Glades and kill a few thousand people, I might actually be impressed.” Felicity remarked after an hour. “But he’s evil, so I’m not.”

“Good call.” Oliver said. “Still nothing?”

“Well, I copied everything I could find. Some of its bound to be useless or related to his actual company, which is shocking and-.” She stopped suddenly when she opened a specific file. “Okay, spoke too soon.”

“You found what we’re looking for?” He asked.

“Not exactly, Malcolm doesn’t have a file called “my entire evil plan” anywhere, but this is more useful than memo after memo about new products.” She told him.

“That….just looks like a 3-D map to me.”

“It’s not. This is the results of a geological survey done about five years ago.” She explained. She pointed to a red line on the 3-D model. “This part here, it’s a known fault line that runs straight through the Glades. And,” she hit a few keys, pulling up the map of Starling’s old subway, “the old subway line runs line along this part.”

“Is there a way you can layer the study, the subway map and a normal map on top of each other?” Oliver asked.

“Duh, have you met me?” She said as she did that.

Oliver looked the new map over and pointed to a particular spot on the map. “There’s the location he’s gonna use.”

“What makes you say that?”

“It’s along the fault line, it’s right on top of where the train tracks are, and its where Rebecca Merlyn was killed.” He said.

Now that they knew where the Markov device was going to be used, they needed to figure out how to disarm the device. Oliver asked her to look through the files and try to figure out how to destroy the earthquake device. He knew simply stopping Malcolm and the Dark Archer might not be enough. The only way to be sure they stopped the Undertaking was to destroy the device and make sure Malcolm couldn’t try again.

 

Megan’s day at preschool ended and she went outside with the rest of her classmates to be picked up. She scanned the crowd, looking for one of her parents. She didn’t see them, but her face lit up when she saw Walter standing there.

“Grandpa Walter!” She exclaimed as she ran towards him.

“Hello Megan. Did you have a good day at school?”

“Uh-huh. We colored and Ms. Ashley read us a story and we did numbers and-.” She continued telling him about her day as they got into the car and started to drive to the mansion. “And even better, you’re still here.”

“Why wouldn’t I be here?” He asked.

“Last time, you left and you didn’t say “bye-bye”. And I was sad and then you came back and you had boo-boos.” She said. “I don’t want you to leave again!”

“Megan, I will never leave you. I promise.”

“You did before.” She grumbled.

“I know, and I’m sorry, but I’ve made sure that never, ever happens again.” He vowed.

After he’d been found, Felicity pulled Walter aside. In addition to telling him how happy she was that he was okay, she told him what Megan thought had happened. They didn’t want to traumatize the little girl, so they told her Walter had to go away for work and didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.

“Good. I don’t want you to leave again. It made everyone sad.” Megan declared.

 

Oliver and Digg went patrolling that night, but they didn’t do anything towards stopping Malcolm. Felicity still had a lot of information to go through and they didn’t want to rush in blind to a dangerous situation. The blonde left her programs running and had a quiet night in with Megan at home.

The next morning, the city woke up to the news about a massacre at Unidac Industries. Given what they already knew about Malcolm’s interest in the company, and the short amount of time they had to stop him, Oliver, Digg and Felicity all knew the Dark Archer had killed the scientists to cover up Malcolm’s tracks.

“So, now he has his device and no one knows what he’s up to.” Oliver muttered when they were gathered in the foundry.

“We know what he’s up to. And we know when he’s gonna make his move.” Digg said.

“He could move the timing up.”

“I don’t think he will. He’s waited twenty years for this, I think he’ll be fine waiting four days.” Felicity said. “Four days where the SCPD will be focused on the massacre, and possibly trying to bring you in for it. Four days where he can operate, in his ideal world, without worrying about you getting in his way.”

“Do you think I should talk to my mom? Try to convince her to do something?”

“You’re gonna hate me for saying this, but no. At least, not yet. Four days isn’t very long, but its enough time for something to go wrong. For him to come up with a plan B. And it gives me time to figure out how to dismantle his stupid doomsday device.” She told him. “Not to mention- never mind.”

“No, what is it?”

“Your mom said she did this to protect her family. To keep Thea and Walter safe. Megan is also her family. I’m not willing to risk our daughter’s safety unless there’s no other option.”

“Speaking of which, I think you both should leave the city.” Oliver said.

“What?”

“When he sets off his device, when the Undertaking starts, I don’t want you or Megan to be anywhere near Starling.”

“I’m not leaving.” She said firmly. “I can’t do that.”

“If you stay, you or Megan could get hurt, or worse.” He said. “I can’t- I can’t lose you, I can’t lose either of you.”

Felicity was about to respond when she got a call from Tommy. He said he needed to talk to her and Oliver, now and was on his way to Verdant. He came storming down the stairs with an angry look on his face.

“Did you know?”

“Did we know what?” Felicity asked.

“About my dad and the Dark Archer, did you know?” He repeated, looking at Oliver. “You know, I thought you not telling me your secret was bad, but this…I can’t believe you, believe either of you.”

“Tommy, we thought they may be working together. We weren’t sure and didn’t want to-.”

“You don’t need to keep lying to me, Ollie. I already know! They aren’t just working together. They’re the same person!”

It was dead silent in the lair. “What?”

“My dad, the Dark Archer, same guy.”

“We didn’t know that.” Felicity said quietly. “How did you-?”

“Wait, you didn’t know? I really thought you- I went to Merlyn Global after hours last night. There was paperwork I needed to fill out for Mom’s charity. I needed to have it completed by tomorrow, just boring stuff-.”

“Tommy? Focus.”

“Right. I saw the Dark Archer walk past my office and head into my father’s. He went into some secret room I didn’t know about. A minute later, my dad walked out of the room.”

“Did he see you?” Oliver asked.

“I don’t know. If he did, he didn’t stop me.”

Oliver couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before. The answer had been in front of him the whole time. Both men were shown to be great fighters. Both were involved in the Undertaking. They were the same height and weight. If it had been anyone else, Oliver would’ve made the connection much earlier. He supposed the reason why he didn’t was because he couldn’t imagine Malcolm Merlyn as a murderous archer. Then again, six years ago, he wouldn’t have been able to picture himself as a vigilante.

Oliver was about to say something when Felicity said she found something. “I think I found where he’s keeping the device.”

“Where?”

She gave him the location and he and John took off.

“Do you really think he only made one?” Tommy asked after they left.

“What do you mean?” She responded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to personal reasons, there won't be a chapter next week.


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver prepares for the worst, Moira makes an unexpected move and Tommy might secretly be a genius.

Felicity gave Oliver the suspected location of the earthquake device and he and John took off.

“Do you really think he only made one?” Tommy asked after they left.

“What do you mean?” She responded.

“It’s probably nothing. Forget it.”

“No, I don’t think its nothing. You have a suspicion, what is it?” She asked. “I’ve spent maybe five minutes talking to your father in the last five years. You’ve known him a lot longer. If you think he’s gonna do something, something we haven’t guessed, tell me.”

He sighed. “I don’t know for sure but it just- it makes sense that he wouldn’t make just one device. He always bragged that the key to being successful in business is redundancy. If he really wants to destroy the Glades, and he does, then one device-.”

“Might not be enough. He suspects the Hood might find one, but the second one, we might not even be looking. Even without taking Oliver into account, if one failed, the other could make up for it.” She finished. “Tommy, you’re a genius.”

Oliver radioed that he and Digg had reached the location Felicity had given him. “Should I try to dismantle it here or bring it back to the foundry?”

“It doesn’t matter. We have a bigger problem.” She told him reluctantly.

“A bigger problem? The device is right on the other side of this door. If I can get inside and destroy the device-.”

“Tommy thinks Malcolm might’ve had them make more than one device. Destroying the device in that building would be good. Finding and destroying both would be better.” She pointed out.

“The second one could be here as well.”

“Can I?” Tommy asked, gesturing to a spare comm unit on the table. Felicity nodded and he put it in his ear. “Ollie? It’s me. My dad’s an asshole, yes, but he’s a paranoid asshole. A cunning, paranoid asshole. Both devices could be there, but I doubt it, because just like he wouldn’t make one machine, he wouldn’t hide them in the same place.”

“This whole argument is pointless.” Digg said.

“Why?”

“Because while you three were arguing, I went in through the back door. Building’s empty. Machine’s gone.”

“I need to have a more pointed chat with-.” The only person who knew where the Markov device was hidden was Malcolm. Oliver just needed to confront Malcolm and force or trick him into telling him where.

“No, you don’t. Come back here so we can find the second device.” She said. “If we know where they both are, we can destroy both of them. This has been his singular goal for at least five years, if not since his wife died. He’s not gonna tell you what you want to know just because you point an arrow at his face.”

“How else are we supposed to find it then?” Oliver growled.

“I’ve got plenty of more data from his computer to go through. We’ll find it.” She swore.

When Oliver and John made it back to the foundry, the archer was in an even worse mood. After five years, completing his mission was within arms reach, yet it seemed further away than ever. He wanted the Undertaking to stopped, once and for all. He pulled Tommy aside and asked him how he knew there were two devices. Tommy told him exactly what he told Felicity: Malcolm wouldn’t risk his master plan failing by only having one machine.

Now, they needed to figure out where the second one would be used. Felicity went digging back through all of the geological surveys and scientific papers Malcolm had acquired, looking for another ideal location to start a manmade earthquake. She set-up on program to search through all of the documents she hadn’t looked at yet, and created another to, using the data from the geological survey, determine the location where an earthquake would do the most damage.

 

The next morning, with three days left to stop Malcolm, Felicity still hadn’t found anything about a second location. She, Oliver and Digg had a few theories, but they weren’t willing to gamble on thousand of people’s lives over a theory. They kept looking.

Tommy was called into Malcolm’s office that morning. His father told him there’d been a security breach, that someone had hacked into the company’s files, and asked his son if he had something to do with it.

“I don’t know- why would you think I was involved?” Tommy asked. He was trying to keep his cool. Based on his father’s expression, he hadn’t blown everything by seeming suspicious.

“Because you tend not to use your brain very much. You meet a woman, you wanna show off your wealth, so you bring her here. While you’re distracted, she plants a bug.” Malcolm reasoned. “It wouldn’t be the first time corporate espionage was achieved by dangling an attractive woman in front of a man who can’t keep it in his pants.”

“You can check the footage. The only visitors I’ve had in months are lawyers for the foundation and Oliver and Felicity.” He responded. He didn’t even mention that he was with Laurel, and thus wouldn’t take random women anywhere, since he knew if he got angry, something might slip out. “I will admit that we did treat ourselves to some of your $800 scotch when our meeting was over, though.”

 

The next few days were quiet. Almost too quiet in Oliver’s opinion. There were no sightings of the Dark Archer, which shocked him since he expected Malcolm to be tying up more loose ends. Felicity had slowly ruled out spots in the Glades where the second device could be implemented, but she didn’t have a definite location. The SCPD continued to chase their own tails, looking for answers about the Unidac massacre.

 

Finally, the day the Undertaking was supposed to happen came. Having no idea when it would start, Felicity decided not to send Megan to school that day. Oliver tried, once again, to convince her to leave, but she refused.

“Mommy, why aren’t I going to preschool today?” Megan asked her mother.

“I thought we could spend the day together, just you and me.”

“But I like preschool!”

“I know you do. I just wanted to spend today with you.” She reasoned. “I thought you liked having Mommy and Megan days?” Felicity knew what was happening. Kids were very intuitive, more intuitive than most adults thought. Megan had picked up on the fact that something was going on, and she wanted to know what it was. Felicity wanted to give her daughter one normal day before everything went to crap.

“I do!” She insisted. “Can Tiger be part too?”

“Of course.”

Felicity made pancakes for breakfast. After breakfast, they went to the park for a little bit. They then came home and Megan decided she wanted to draw for a little bit. Around noon, she asked if Felicity could read with her. Megan read _The Cat in the Hat_ almost all by herself.

“Wow, your reading is really good.”

“That’s what Ms. Ashley says.” Megan beamed. “She says I read better than the other kids.”

“And how does that make you feel?” Her mother asked. The teacher’s recommendation about Megan skipping kindergarten was fresh in her mind. “Do you feel bored because you finish before them?”

Megan nodded. “I finish, and Ms. Ashley says I need to wait for Billy and Ally, and Becca and Emily and-.”

“So, you finish first and you have to wait for everyone else, and you get bored. Does that make you happy or sad or angry?”

“Why are you asking me this stuff?”

“No reason.” By the sound of things, she should let Megan skip kindergarten, but she was worried about how Megan’s social development would change if she did. She needed to talk to Oliver when this was over.

 

Around 2pm, Thea called Oliver, who was in the foundry, preparing for the night ahead. She told him to turn on the TV saying Moira was holding a press conference. He used one of Felicity’s computers to turn on the news.

“My name is Moira Dearden Queen. I’m the acting CEO of Queen Consolidated, and god forgive me, I have failed this city. For the past five years, under the threat for my life and the lives of my family, I have been complicit in an undertaking with one horrible purpose: to destroy the Glades and everyone in it. I realize that the safety of my family will mean nothing if I let this dreadful act occur. But you need to know that the architect of this nightmare is Malcolm Merlyn. I can prove that he has killed dozens in pursuit of this madness, including Frank Chen and my husband, Robert. Please, if you reside in the Glades, you need to get out now. Your lives and the lives of your family depend on it.”


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Undertaking comes to an end.

Malcolm saw the press conference, along with everyone else in the city. He saw out of his window that a SWAT team van had arrived and prepared himself for a fight. The officers were pouring into the building when suddenly, the door to his office was ripped open.

“Did Moira lose her mind or-?” Tommy began to ask. “Or are you really trying to destroy the Glades?”

Malcolm turned to face him. “Its true, Tommy. It’s why I closed your mother’s clinic. I didn’t wanna see it levelled.” He said. “And that’s why I was reluctant to let you start the foundation in her name, but allowing it seemed to make you happy. And it wound up being advantageous.”

“What?” He asked.

“There’s something you need to hear.” He said, walking over to his desk. “The night your mother died, she called me. I woke to a voicemail from her. Her final gift to me.” He pressed play, and Tommy was forced to listen to his mother’s last words. “She bled out on the pavement while people passed, and did nothing.”

“So, you’re going to kill thousands of people, because of what happened to her?”

“Yes! They deserve to die! All of them! The way she died!” He shouted.

“And the Gambit? Ollie? Is what Moira said true? Did you kill all of those people?”

“I did what I had to do. Robert wanted to stop me, stop it.” He said. “Oliver wasn’t supposed to be onboard, but waiting wasn’t an option.” He went over to a wall, pressed a button behind a painting and a hidden door opened, revealing a secret room. Malcolm was about to enter it when the SWAT team arrived.

“Freeze! Malcolm Merlyn, you’re under arrest!” One shouted.

Tommy took several steps back before running out of the room. He needed to get out of there. He needed to tell Oliver and Felicity what he found out. As he reached the elevator, he could hear the sounds of a fight. He knew his father would kill the SWAT members sent to arrest him, but he couldn’t stop him and he certainly didn’t want to witness what his father was going to do.

Malcolm killed the last SWAT officer in his office and stepped out into the hallway. There weren’t any others waiting in the wings. He realized, belatedly, that Tommy was gone as well. He couldn’t bring himself to care, as there was nothing Tommy could do.

 

Megan was eating an afternoon snack when Felicity’s phone rang. It was Tommy. “Did you see the news?”

“No, Megan and I were-.”

“Moira held a press conference. She told everyone about the Undertaking. She confessed to being involved and revealed that my father’s behind it.” He said quickly. “And my dad just took out a SWAT team.”

“Tell me you aren’t with him.”

“No, SWAT showed up and I took off, but- he said something, when I went to confront him. Something that seems important.” He said.

“What was it?”

“I need to talk to you and Ollie, at the same time.” He insisted. “Meet me at Verdant.”

“Okay, I just-.”

“Mommy? Who are you talking to?” Megan asked.

Tommy hung up. Felicity then got a text from her mother, saying she’d seen the news and was on a plane to Starling. She’d be landing in two hours. “It was someone from work, baby. How’d you like to spend the night with Grandma Donna?”

The five-year-old jumped in excitement before asking why her grandmother was visiting. Felicity responded by saying Donna had missed her. They picked Donna up at the airport and drove back to Felicity’s house. The blonde then told her mother she needed to leave for a few hours.

“The city’s in the middle of a crisis and you’re leaving?”

“Yes, to go help. There’s gonna be chaos. They might need volunteers, or people to donate blood. I need to go.” She said.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Donna asked.

“Nothing, Mom, I just- how did I not see this? I saw her multiple times a week for the last five years and I didn’t- I missed the signs and now I need to-.”

“This isn’t your fault you know.”

“I know, but trying to help, it’ll make me feel better.” She said before kissing Megan goodbye and running out of the door.

She raced over to the foundry. The Glades had already started to become uneasy, with some people looting while most of the citizens were trying to take as many of their belongings as possible and fleeing. She made it to Verdant without incident and found Oliver, Digg and Tommy already there.

“What did Malcolm tell you?” Felicity asked as she poured over the results of her searches.

“He admitted to being the mastermind, and tampering with the Gambit. Said he knew Oliver was on board, but claimed he couldn’t wait to kill Robert. Also said he closed my mom’s clinic so he wouldn’t see it levelled, and that’s why he was reluctant to let me start the foundation.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

“He said letting me open the foundation turned out to be beneficial in the end.” Tommy said.

“What does that even-?” Oliver started to ask.

“What’s the relationship between Merlyn Global Group and the foundation you started?” Felicity asked.

“They’re a donor and the building the staff use as a main office is owned by Merlyn Global, like how QC technically owns this place.”

“So, he’d have access to the building and no one would think twice about seeing him there.” She concluded.

“I guess not. Why?”

“The office they use, the one in the Glades, what’s the address?”

“18th and Monroe.” He answered. She nodded and kept typing. “It’s on the opposite side of the Glades from where my mom died.”

“It’s near one of the old subway stations and right above the tracks. Making in an ideal place for the second Markov device.” She said. “He had access to the building. It’s in an ideal location, and its one of the places my algorithm spat out for a possible location.”

“Okay. We have two devices, two locations, and nowhere near enough time to dismantle both and take down Malcolm.” Oliver said.

“Not to mention there’s a chance Malcolm has some kind of remote that could trigger the devices.” Digg pointed out.

“I have the plans. I can talk Lance through dismantling them.” Felicity said.

“Both of them? He might not be able to make it from the first location to the second in time.”

“I’ll handle the second one.” Tommy offered.

“That’s not-.”

“You told me you put on that hood to honor your father. The way I see it, destroying the device is the best way I can honor my mother.” He pointed out. “She was killed by a random act of violence, and that doesn’t mean everyone in the Glades deserves to die.”

“You dismantle it and you get out.” Oliver ordered him. “Don’t try to be a hero.”

“No, that’s your job. You look better in leather anyway.” He joked.

Felicity made a call to Lance and told him the Hood needed his help. The detective was a tad reluctant, but she told him she had a way to stop the Undertaking, and lives mattered more than his personal feelings.

Lance and Tommy headed to their respective locations while Oliver and Digg went to deal with Malcolm. The pair made it to Merlyn Global and walked past the dead SWAT officers. Digg then found the false wall and opened the door. Malcolm, dressed as the Dark Archer, was in the room, waiting for them.

“Welcome gentlemen. I’ve been waiting for you. I wanted to see you watch your city die.” He said.

“Where’s the transmitter?” Oliver growled.

“Somewhere I can easily get to it.”

“I doubt it. You’ll be dead.”

John fired at the same time Oliver released an arrow. Somehow, they both Malcolm. He started to retreat before stopping to fire a few arrows himself. He and Oliver fought hand-to-hand for a bit before Malcolm threw a few knives at John, which struck him in the leg, abdomen and shoulder.  He ran off while Oliver stopped to check on Digg.

“Go.”

“What?”

“You need to end this. Go.”

Oliver nodded once before running after Malcolm. He ran up to the roof and opened the door. An arrow barely missed his head and Malcolm lowered his bow slightly.

“So tell me, are you ready to die, Oliver?” He asked.

Oliver didn’t respond but ran towards him. They met halfway and began fighting. Oliver started by trying to shoot him with an arrow, but soon, they wound up fighting hand-to-hand. Oliver was about to get the upperhand, when Malcolm got a lucky hit in and was able to pull Oliver into a chokehold.

“Don’t struggle. It’s over. There was never any doubt of the outcome.” He said. “Don’t worry. Your mother and sister will be joining you in death. Your daughter and Ms. Smoak too.”

Oliver started to pass out, but then he heard Malcolm's threat against Megan. He didn't care if he died, but he couldn't let anything happen to his daughter. Oliver reached for a discarded arrow on the ground. He grabbed it and stabbed it under his arm to hit Malcolm in the chest. They both fell onto the ground.

Oliver slowly got to his feet. “Thank you for teaching me what I’m fighting for.” Malcolm rolled over. “but my father taught me how.” He started to stand up, and Oliver hit him in the face, knocking him back down. He then kicked him in the ribs a few times, as hard as he could, just for good measure. The man had threatened his family after all.

“Oliver, Lance’s device is down and Tommy’s is almost deactivated.” Felicity reported. Tommy had been delayed trying to avoid an angry mob, so he was a few steps behind Lance.

“It’s over.” Oliver told Malcolm.

“I don’t think it is.” Malcolm said before falling over, apparently dead.

“Um, not to be paranoid, but this thing is- its moving.” Tommy said.

“Tommy, get out of there.” Felicity told him. “It’s about to go off.”

“But the Glades-.”

“What you did made the machine a lot less powerful, but we’re out of time.”

“I can still-.”

“If you stay, you’ll probably be killed when the tunnel around you collapses. I don’t wanna tell Megan that he Uncle Tommy got hurt. Get out of there.” She told him. “Now!”

He wanted to argue, but decided to listen to her instead. He ran off and as he exited the building, the ground began to shake. It stopped a few moments later, due to the fact Tommy had removed its preliminary power source, leaving the machine weakened.

“The damage is on the east side, contained past Wells Street.” Felicity said.

“Isn’t Verdant-?”

“It’s standing.” She reported before the signal cut out. “For now at least.” She said to herself.

Tommy heard Wells Street and took off to CNRI. Oliver heard it and was torn between going to the affected area and going to Verdant.

“I’ll get Felicity.” Digg told him.

“What?”

“Quake’s over, but the city still needs a hand. I’ll make sure Felicity’s safe. The club might’ve just lost power.” He said. He went to Verdant while Oliver got on his bike and raced towards the area most damaged by the quake.

 

Just past Wells Street, Laurel was pinned under a piece of debris inside CNRI. She was screaming for help. Suddenly, Tommy ran into the room. “What are you-?”

“I figured you might’ve come back to CNRI.” He answered. He lifted the debris off of her and told her to run, saying he’d be right behind her.

Laurel made it outside right as an aftershock hit. The building’s roof caved in as she made it to safety. Oliver pulled up outside and heard Laurel yelling Tommy’s name. He rushed into the destroyed offices.

“Oliver?” Tommy’s voice called.

He was buried under a pile of rubble, which he started to move off of him. “You’re gonna be fine.”

“Let’s agree to disagree.” He said in between groans. He removed the last piece of debris and saw there was a piece of rebar impaled in Tommy’s abdomen, just below his navel. “Is- is Laurel safe? I tried to get her out of here.”

“Yeah, yeah, you did. You saved her.” Oliver said. “You’re gonna be fine. I’m gonna get you out of here.”

“Stop. I- I’m sorry, about how I reacted, but I was angry and-.” He started to say. “My dad, is he-?”

“Let me get you out of here, then we’ll talk.” He promised. “Sorry, this is gonna hurt.” He prepared to lift Tommy off of the pole. “One, two-.”

“FUCK! What happened to three?” He shouted.

“Two, three, does it matter? It just gives you more time to think about that's about to happen. The pole’s no longer impaling you.” He said.

“I think- I’m gonna need a doctor.” Tommy said before passing out.

Oliver could feel a pulse, but it was very weak. He threw Tommy over his shoulder and ran out of the building. Laurel was out in the street with her father. Oliver rushed over to them and placed Tommy down. “Get him to a hospital.”

“What?”

“There was a piece of rebar that went through his stomach. I couldn’t move him without pulling it out. Take him to the hospital.” Oliver said. “Now! Before he bleeds out.”

“What about you?”

By the time he asked that, Oliver had already rode off.

He went back to Verdant and found it heavily damaged. Felicity and Digg were nowhere to be seen. Oliver went to his back-up lair, the one they didn’t know about, and changed into spare clothes he had stashed there. He put the hood in a duffel bag and went to Felicity’s house. If she wasn’t at Verdant, that was the next place she’d be.

He walked inside and found Felicity and John on the couch with Donna fussing over them. Digg’s wounds looked like they’d been treated and Felicity had a small bandage on her forehead.

“Oh, Oliver. You’re here. Where have you- it doesn’t matter. Are you hurt?” Donna asked him.

“No, but I- I don’t know if Tommy’s gonna be okay. He was- when the quake started, he was- he seemed pretty banged up when the paramedics took him away.”

Oliver said he was tired, which was understandable, and went to bed. Donna stayed for another few days while the city began to recover. The day after Donna went back to Las Vegas, Felicity walked into Oliver’s room and found it empty. The archer was gone, and more upsettingly, he hadn’t said goodbye to anyone.


End file.
